A/N 1/7/13 - Happy New Year! This has been a long time coming, and I know some of you have been wondering about that other story as well. It's in the works. I had a creative log jam and I used this story as the dynamite to break it up. If it's any consolation to you, this chapter is huge.
Thanks a bunch to my blackbelt accountant along with my ever faithful beta (and so much more) somedeepmystery for all of their guidance and prodigious patience with this. And thanks to BDaddyDL, as well, for helping me decide one of three possible endings for this chapter. I suspect he's avoided a lynch mob with his choice.
I don't own Chuck, but I have flown a Super Cub.
Sarah Versus the Farm
Chapter 7 - All In
She felt a thump on the bed that startled her awake and instinctively she reached for her Smith and Wesson 5906, which she had tucked between the mattress and the box spring. Sarah relaxed quickly when she felt four, not so small feet walking up from the foot of the bed and across her. When she rolled onto her back, Mongo draped himself over her belly and looked up at her expectantly with his motor running. She reached up from under the covers and scratched his head behind the ears, "And what do you think you're doing?" she asked, as the cat's motor revved in response to her touch.
"Is it time to get up?" She looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was still early by her standards, a quarter to six. Especially considering how late she had been up with Chuck and his sister the night before. The evening's friendly and easy banter was still fresh in her mind. Sarah looked over at the closed bathroom door, remembering that Ellie was right across the way staying in her own room. Ellie had drank a few glasses of wine the night before and Chuck had insisted that she stay over. She looked back at the cat and shook her head at him, "No, it's not time to get up. I hope you don't make a habit of waking me up early on the weekends, you monster."
Mongo responded by standing on her chest, almost driving the air from her lungs with his considerable weight, and then started to knead 'the girls' through the quilt. "Hey, that's just a little bit forward don't you think? Some men," she giggled, as she pushed him off. Undeterred, the big Maine Coon cat moved up to her face and nuzzled her ear.
Sarah pulled her ear to her shoulder and laughed before pulling the quilt up to hide. "My, aren't you the amorous one," she mumbled, through the covers over her head.
This was something completely new to Sarah. She'd never been allowed to have a pet when she was a child because she and her father had moved so often. She'd always wanted a cat but Chuck's feline was now giving her mixed emotions about the whole pet thing as he drove her awake with his affection, purring in her face through the covers. He finally relented and plopped down on the quilt, snuggled into her side. Sarah cautiously lowered the covers and stared at him, letting out a long and slow giggling exhale through her nostrils with a tightly drawn grin on her face. "This is going to take some getting used to."
She raised her hands to her face and groaned before throwing the covers to the side and climbing out on the opposite side of the bed. Pulling on the plush pink robe that was draped over the bed frame at the foot of the bed - one Ellie had given to her the night before as they were getting ready for bed - Sarah wandered out into the hallway and immediately smelled the coffee. Someone was already up. She padded down the hallway and peeked around the edge of the open doorway into Chuck's room. The bed was made and the room was empty. Huh, now where did you get off to, Mr. Bartowski?
A sense of alarm slowly started to overtake her as she walked through the house and he was nowhere to be found. Then her eye caught some movement through the panes in one of the French doors in the dining room. She walked over to the door and peered out to see Chuck in the pasture, bent over at the waist with a horse's hoof in one hand - braced against his leg - and a file in the other hand. His Wrangler jeans were tucked into a pair of well-worn boots with bright red barrels and spurs with large rowels on them. He was wearing a pair of chinks and Sarah's eyes went wide as they were drawn to the seat of his pants which was accentuated by the way the leather was wrapped around his legs. His dog, Chewie, was lying obediently in the gravel outside the fence. She watched Chuck trim the horse's hoof for a minute before he set the file in a bucket by his feet and then pulled a hoof pick from it to clean the inside of Bo's hoof.
He set the horse's hoof down and gave Bo an affectionate swat on the flank and a scratch down his neck. Setting the bucket outside the fence and giving Chewie a pat on the head, Chuck stepped to Bo's side and, after checking the double cinch, swung into the cutting saddle with both hands on the horn, in one swift and easy motion. He reined the horse around in a circle as he landed softly in the saddle, the horses motion helping him settle squarely in the seat. He made it look so easy, without even using the stirrup. Of course, Chuck was not a small man, but Bo was not a small horse either. He was easily well over sixteen hands and built as solid as a rock.
Sarah watched, fascinated, as he maneuvered the horse around the pasture with subtle cues from his legs and feet, the reins mostly still unless he made the horse do something drastic. Then as she looked on, he backed Bo up to the fence at one end of the arena, then dropped suddenly and deeply into the saddle and, with a low guttural "Hya!" that she could barely hear through the closed door, and the big horse dropped and took off like a gunshot. When they reached the other end at a full gallop, horse and rider banked into a hard turn to port as they slowed along the rail of the fence and settled into a posting canter.
"Wow."
"He's pretty good, isn't he?"
Sarah turned quickly to see Ellie standing behind her with two cups of coffee in her hands. Jeez! I'm losing my touch!
"Coffee?" Ellie asked, holding out a cup with a big grin. She was wearing the same thing she had on the day before, a heavy, maroon, long-sleeved cotton work shirt, and tight fitting Wrangler jeans tucked into cowboy boots. The boots had colorful floral stitching all over them, and she had a tooled leather belt, with floral stitching that matched her boots, and a large oval barrel racing trophy buckle. Her hair was pulled back in one large braid draped across her shoulder tied with a green ribbon. Taking her all in, Sarah thought Ellie looked like the quintessential country girl, but she also had an air of mature sophistication about her.
"Thanks, Ellie." Sarah took the cup and looked back out the door. "Yeah, he's really good. And he's never fallen off a horse?" she asked, taking a sip from the mug.
Ellie chuckled, "Oh, you heard that huh? Sure, he's fallen off horses plenty of times. He's just never been hurt doing it," Ellie huffed, "I swear, sometimes I think he's bulletproof." She took a sip of her coffee. "It's so strange watching him do that one minute and then tripping over his own feet the very next," she added with a giggle.
Sarah turned back to Ellie with a broad grin lighting up her face. "So he has a klutzy side to him, too?"
"You mean you haven't seen it yet?" Ellie retorted incredulously, "I'd've figured he would have shown that side of himself to you right away as gorgeous as you are. I can't believe you look the way you do fresh out of bed, it's disgusting," she said, with a grin and wink. "Normally someone like you has Chuck tripping all over himself non-stop."
It took all of Sarah's concentration and training to not allow more than a coy smile to show on her face while she chewed on her lower lip, and she fought mightily to keep the blush from rising up her neck as she looked back out the door. She'd had all sorts of compliments about her looks before but didn't have a clue how to respond to the one Ellie had just given her. She'd also seen what Ellie was talking about, but figured Chuck's sister was exaggerating like siblings are prone to do.
"Good Lord, you have an amazing amount of self-control, girl," sang Ellie, with a laugh, "Have you been to acting school?"
Sarah shot Ellie a sparkling smile from the corner of her eye and lost it as the color crept up her neck. Dammit. Not acting school, Ellie, but something very close. "C'mon, Ellie, I'm sure I really don't look that great right now," she answered modestly.
"Okay then, maybe it's something else that's making you glow like a firefly."
Sarah turned back to her and shrugged with a sheepish smile, "Maybe." God, does it really show that much?
"I'm sorry Sarah," Ellie said with a laugh, "I should know better than to have this sort of fun at your expense. You hardly know me… but I hope we get to know each other much better. I like you. And I think you would be good for my brother. You have a remarkable effect on him and he deserves someone like you in his life."
Sarah felt a wave of conflicting emotions flow within her from Ellie's statement. You hardly know me, Ellie… and I'm not sure how far I can let you in… but I want to. "I like your brother, Ellie. A lot… a whole lot. He does something for me too."
"No pressure," said Ellie with a beaming smile, "but if you're really interested in him you may have to take the initiative. He's kind of shy about that sort of thing, but I've seen the way he looks at you… I've also noticed the way you look at him."
Sarah only looked at Chuck's sister with a perplexed expression on her face. She'd seen the odd juxtaposition that was Ellie's brother the last couple of days. He could take the initiative, but he had balked when things looked like they could go farther between the two of them. She had found the odd shyness endearing and strangely sexy. But she also knew there was something else at play here that Ellie didn't understand.
"Right, sorry if that's too much information," said Ellie, when she realized that Sarah had clammed up. "Why don't we get some breakfast started. I have appointments this morning and I need to get going soon. Sunday stable calls," she added, with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay. I'm going to go get dressed. I'll be back to help you in a minute." Sarah could feel Ellie's eyes on her as she walked back to her room. A smile graced her face as she thought about Chuck's sister's less than subtle attempts at matchmaking. Ellie was a dynamic in the situation she hadn't given enough thought to, and she could see some possibly dangerous ground up ahead because of her obvious talent for reading people.
-II-
She walked out the front door of Casa Bartowski and looked toward the barn. Once again, Chuck had gone missing. Sarah knew she was going to have to have a talk with him about this. His penchant for doing his own thing without telling her where he was going could, and probably would, lead to trouble. It was just one of the myriad, new and troubling aspects of his life she really didn't want to bring to his attention right now. As she stepped off the front porch Ellie's pickup truck caught her eye. It was a Ford similar to Chuck's, but a crew cab, with a raised aluminum bed cover that was commonly used by veterinarians to store the tools of their trade. Ellie had told her a little bit about her job the night before. She'd been out attending to the horses of one of Chuck's neighbors yesterday, when she'd decided to pay him a visit because the curiosity that Morgan had bred became too much to ignore.
Sarah walked through the big double doors and methodically searched the barn taking some time to get familiar with the building as she went. She poked her head into a well-appointed tack room with a number of saddles lined up on racks on the wall and bridles and halters hanging from pegs under a window. The lights were on and in the center of the room, next to a work bench, was an English saddle on a wooden rack. A tin of saddle soap and an English bridle were sitting on the work bench. Chuck was getting some tack ready for her. She smiled as she realized she was going to need to have her riding boots and jodhpurs sent out from Washington. It had been a long time since she'd used them, since belonging to the Harvard Equestrian Club. But watching Chuck that morning had piqued her curiosity about learning western riding, and Ellie had offered to spend some time teaching her some of the techniques. She had offered Sarah the use of her Paint Horse, Jesse.
As she walked toward the back of the barn, she called his name, "Chuck? Are you in here?"
"Back here," he shouted back from the space where he kept the Super Cub parked.
"It figures," she said under her breath, "What are you doing? Breakfast is almost ready, come and eat." She walked up to the Cub where Chuck was standing on one of the bushwheels, attaching something to the cowling in front of the plane's windscreen. She peeked around him and saw that it was an agricultural, GPS guidance lightbar, and she raised an eyebrow.
"I'm putting the ag GPS back on. We're going to do your first training flights today," he said, as he turned to her and grinned, almost slipping off the tire in the process.
"Oh. Okay. So we're going to start off in the Cub?"
"Yeah. I'm not going to throw you into the Air Tractor without some hands on training, you know. This is how my dad taught me. Now I get to show you how it's done, I can't wait," he said with a touch of giddy enthusiasm.
"I can't wait either." She answered his infectious grin with one of her own. "But your sister offered to take me to town this afternoon to shop for some clothes too."
"Oh, joy. Clothes shopping," he deadpanned, "I suppose you're going to make me go along so you can keep an eye on me."
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," Sarah answered apologetically, "Spending time with me and your sister can't be all that bad, can it?"
"Actually, I'm probably as concerned about the two of you alone together as you are about me being by myself," he chuckled, "Otherwise, who's going to keep Ellie from telling you all sorts of embarrassing things about me." He placed his hand on Sarah's shoulder, stepping down to the floor, and was surprised when Sarah drew him toward her with her arm around his waist.
"Before we go in I need to tell you something," she said looking up into his eyes. "I spoke with Graham last night and reviewed my plan with him. He approves. Casey has been briefed and he'll be here any time now, so we have to be ready. I need to fill you in on some of the cover before we have a problem with your sister."
"I thought that was why you disappeared on us for a little while. I tried to distract Ellie for you."
"Thank you. Things are happening very fast and I didn't anticipate your sister being here. I'm sorry you can't say anything to her, Chuck. I'm even more sorry that it's going to force you to lie to her."
Placing his hands on Sarah's shoulders, Chuck looked her in the eye, "Ellie's no dummy, Sarah. Eventually she's going to figure it out. And when she does it's not going to be good for either of us. She's going to be questioning our sincerity about everything. Everything, Sarah."
Sarah gave Chuck a pained and pensive look as her mouth drew into a tight line. She had been at war with herself and her training since she had arrived for this assignment. Lies and subterfuge were part and parcel to the espionage business and she had become so used to keeping secrets and withholding information over the years she hardly gave it a second thought. But knowing what she now knew about Chuck and his sister was making the justification for what she was asking Chuck to do very difficult. The little exposure she'd had with Ellie - and even Morgan - left her with the feeling that things could blow up in their faces with extremely incendiary consequences. And the fallout from it wouldn't only affect Chuck. She now found herself wanting a real relationship for the first time in her life, with someone her superiors now considered an asset, and because of that one glaring fact, everything had changed. Realistically, the only way she would be able to stay on this path was if she ignored her feelings for Chuck and backed away from him emotionally almost completely. Oh, God, no. NO.
Her face fell. She pushed away from him and started to walk away down the open passage between the stalls to the main door.
"Sarah?" Chuck's plaintive tone of voice saying only her name stopped her dead in her tracks.
"We can't tell her, Chuck," she said, with iron in her voice, still facing away from him. Her hands had balled up into fists at her sides. She couldn't face him. Because if she did, she was afraid she'd lose it. What is happening to me?
As she heard Chuck shuffling up behind her - the spurs he was still wearing jangling - she scrunched her eyes shut, struggling to contain the moisture building in them. She couldn't back out now, couldn't do this to him, or herself; but what was she going to do? She was a CIA agent and the mission had to come first. Didn't it?
He stayed behind her and tentatively placed his hand on her shoulder. "There must be something we can do; some way we can let my sister know what's going on without compromising the mission. Ellie can help us… we were spy kids, Sarah."
Compromising? If you only knew! But… you do know, don't you? She spun to face him, and seeing the look of pain reflected in his eyes, did the only thing she could think to do at that moment, she took his face in her hands and kissed him, wantonly, but tenderly. She looked up into his eyes as his hands reached up and covered hers on his cheeks, "Spy kids?" she asked, in almost a whisper as a small wry smile grew on her face.
He rolled his eyes and smiled thinly, "It's a silly movie."
"Chuck? Sarah?" Sarah spun around again and Chuck looked up to see Ellie standing in the big double doorway to the barn. "C'mon, breakfast is getting cold, and I have a couple of appointments this morning I need to keep."
"Okay, El," Chuck answered, red faced, "we'll be right behind you, just give us a second."
Ellie's eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to one side with her arms crossed on her chest. "'Give us a second' for you two is likely to turn into an hour. Now, come on, I'm hungry," she said as she turned on her boot heel and tromped back toward the house.
"Yes, MOM."
"HA,HA," Ellie retorted, with a wave of her hand without turning, "Get your butts in gear."
"Oh God, this could be a huge problem," Sarah whispered, gripping Chuck's hand behind her.
"Told ya."
-III-
"Spray off." Sarah pulled the Cub crisply up off the end of the oat field next to Morgan's house and over the power lines leading to the building.
"That's it, nice. Keep the wings level until you've gained some height, now extend," said Chuck, encouragingly, from the back seat.
She rolled the plane into a quickly executed turn downwind at about a hundred feet, watching the cross-track distance on the lightbar mounted on the Mistress' cowling. When they were about 800 feet from the new line she had toggled, she rolled the airplane the other direction and pulled the nose up above the horizon, in a climbing arcing turn, and slowly started to pull the airplane through the turn with the elevator as the nose of the plane dropped back through the horizon line and they started to descend back toward the field, marching the track intercept angle and distance lights evenly across the lightbar as she rolled out.
Chuck pursed his lips and gave her a quiet, unseen, nod of approval from the back seat. She's getting the hang of the turns quick, he thought."Give yourself a little room over the house and then push down over it."
"Okay," Sarah replied, with a nod.
"Easy on your feet, small corrections."
"Okay. Light on the toes."
She pushed the Cub down over Morgan's house and, as she crossed the fence across the backyard, said, "Spray on," as she pantomimed moving the spray handle forward with her left hand.
Chuck looked down and saw Morgan standing in the backyard waving at them. "Good! Very good. Your height looks about right. How do the nozzles look?"
Sarah glanced briefly out at both wings to simulate checking the nozzles for clogs and then winced when she looked back at the lightbar finding she'd drifted twelve feet off the line. "Oh, fudge."
Chuck snickered, "Get it back, you can do it. Don't overshoot. Good. Now small corrections."
"Wow, lots of things happening at once," she said, the concentration obvious in her voice, as she flew the Super Cub across the field with the wheels about five feet over the oat crop.
"Yeah, but you're getting the hang of it quick. After we get done with a few more passes I'll have you do another race-track pattern for me."
Sarah blew out a breath, "Okay. This is tiring!"
"Trust me, it'll get easier. You're doin' great."
When Sarah pulled up over the fence at the other end of the field she said, "Spray off," pulling the simulated handle back, she clicked the button on the stick, advancing the swath on the GPS. She then rolled into another extending, downwind turn toward the trees along the creek. A satisfied smile grew on her face as she looked down past the lower wingtip at the ground rushing by while they turned, "This is fun!" she exclaimed, as the tops of the trees along the creek flashed by only a few feet below them and she rolled once again into another 'P' turn for the back-to-back pattern she was flying.
"Why am I not surprised to hear you say that?" Chuck deadpanned from behind her.
She looked over her shoulder with a big smile to see Chuck smirking at her, mirth dancing in his eyes. He glanced over her shoulder at the turn coordinator indicator on the panel to see the ball smack dab in the center and then riveted his eyes on hers again. Damn, she's good! "Ahem, eyes on the prize."
"They were," she announced with a grin, as she turned to look back out the plane and finish the turn.
Chuck stared at the back of her head, stunned into silence with a sheepish grin on his face. Finally shaking it off when he heard "Spray on" over the intercom, he looked out at the field flying by. She was right on the line. "Just remember, we're only going about a hundred in the Cub, the Air Tractor does this at about a hundred and fifty," he warned, finding his voice again.
"Yeah, I'll bet things happen a lot faster in that plane."
"She's built for speed," said Chuck, with a quiet voice that barely opened the VOX circuit on the intercom.
"If you don't mind, I think I'll refer to it as a guy," Sarah sang in response.
"Suit yourself. Just as long as you treat him right and don't yell at him."
"Wouldn't think of it."
"I'll remember that."
"I was talking about the plane, Chuck, but I'll try not to raise my voice to you, too."
"No. Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try," said Chuck, with squeaky gravel in his voice, obviously imitating someone else's speech.
"Ha! Who was that supposed to be?"
"Oh, good grief. Add another movie to the growing list."
Sarah reached the end of the field and pulled abruptly up over the caretaker's house. Chuck looked down and saw Morgan staring at a very large, silver and maroon motor home as it squeezed under the arch of the front gate. There was a black sedan on a trailer behind it. "Lucy, we have company," said Chuck with a pronounced Latin accent.
"Now that one I recognize," said Sarah with a short laugh. "That's in all likelihood, Casey," she added, her voice more serious.
"Nice rig. Government issue?"
"Most likely."
"It looks like it's built like a tank."
"Well, it probably is bulletproof."
"That figures. Why don't you give us a cleanup pass down the fence-line next to him? Then we'll land and give him a proper welcome, whatever that is for an NSA assassin."
"No violence, Chuck," Sarah said, with a chuckle as she turned the Cub for a clean-up pass down the fence line next to the road.
"I'm not the one who no doubt has weapons stashed all over their person."
"Could've fooled me."
"Touché. Forgive me if government agents make me a bit paranoid."
Sarah sighed loud enough to activate the VOX circuit, "Yeah, we probably need to talk about that."
"Sorry, that was a little close to home, wasn't it? Go ahead and put the wingtip right over the fence," he added, as Sarah dropped the Mistress down for the pass next the road leading to the house. The Cub flashed by the big motor home, the wingtip only a few feet away from it. Sarah and Chuck couldn't help but wave in chorus as they flew past, like they were on a parade float. "Hello," said Chuck, dragging the word out as they went by.
Sarah smiled and pulled the Super Cub up smartly at the end of the pass and circled back to land on the alfalfa with a nicely executed short approach and landing, lightly touching down on the mains.
"Well done. You can fly the Cub anytime you want. I'm sure that Dad is somewhere smiling, knowing another pretty girl is flying his plane."
Sarah glanced over her shoulder with pleasant surprise showing on her face, "Thank you, Chuck. I'll treat your other girlfriend kindly."
"I never had a doubt," he said, beaming back at her. "We'll leave her out in case you want to practice later this afternoon. I'd like to watch you a bit from the ground."
"Oh. Alright. I'm not keen to the idea of leaving you by yourself right now, though," said Sarah, biting her lip as she shut the engine down, parking next to the barn.
"I know, but I'll be right next to the field and I'm sure the Major will be close by."
"Yeah," she answered quietly. Sarah still didn't know if she could trust John Casey. But he had his orders to be on a protective detail now, and he wasn't one to disobey orders, as he had disturbingly demonstrated at Chuck's cabin in the mountains. Her biggest concern was General Beckman and the possible schism she could create with this new team. Orders for this op were coming from her boss, Director Graham's office, but Sarah was concerned whether Casey really would place Graham's orders first. Everything just felt so nebulous right now.
They climbed out of the plane and walked through the barn, approaching the big motor home and the equally big man walking around it, poking around in some of the outside storage compartments of the rig. As they walked up, Casey rose and turned to them causing Chuck to wonder if the NSA agent had had eyeballs implanted in the back of his head.
"Walker, I assume that was you learning another useful skill for your work," the big man said laconically with a touch of sarcasm, his face an expressionless mask.
"Looks like you are, also, Casey. I must say you look like a natural as a motor home tourist," she retorted with a sly smile, "Are you a member of The Good Sam Club too?"
Casey answered with a grunt that Chuck was trying to decipher. He concluded it must be one of disgust as the Major finally looked him up and down and then almost imperceptibly frowned. "Bartowski. Is there a place I can park this monstrosity?"
"Yeah, you're in luck. There's a pad with a power, water, and septic hookup on the west side of the garage under those Mulberry trees. My folks used to keep an eventing trailer parked there."
Casey looked over next to the old garage that Chuck was pointing at. "Hmng, luck. Guess I'll get to it then."
"Need any help?" asked Chuck, trying to at least be a good host.
"No, I've got it. I'll let Walker babysit you while I do this."
"Swell," deadpanned Chuck, in return as he looked over at the frown on his other handlers face. "We'll be in the house if you need any help."
"We need to talk after you get settled, Casey." Sarah's voice was even and her face was also a mask as she glanced at Chuck.
"Hmn, I'm sure we do," said the Major unceremoniously, without looking at either of them. He walked over next to the garage to survey the space that Chuck had pointed out.
"My, my, isn't he a friendly fellow. Guess he wants to live up to the first impression," whispered Chuck into Sarah's ear as he turned to walk to the house. Sarah gave Chuck a subtle smirk as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes and turned to walk up the steps with him.
As they made it to the top step of the porch Chuck's pocket started playing the Mexican hat dance and he pulled out his cell phone. "Hey Morg, what's up? … Yeah, I thought you might be wondering, have you got a few minutes?" he asked the phone as he and Sarah walked through the front door.
-IV-
"I don't think he's buying it," Chuck said, pushing the 'end call' button on his phone.
"You sounded pretty convincing to me," answered Sarah, as she sat next to him at the island in the kitchen.
"Convincing story or not, the timing is all a little too convenient and sudden. I normally wouldn't drop something as big as this on him without some sort of warning. I can probably get away with it with the rest of the crew, but Morgan and I talk about everything, Sarah. I'm not sure if this will work with Ellie, either," he looked over at her and sighed, "but we've already had that discussion. I just hate lying to either of them."
Sarah turned to look at him, placing her hand on his shoulder, her mouth drawn into a line. "We don't really have a choice right now, Chuck. We'll have to stick to the plan for the time being."
"I understand. But if we're not careful this could all blow up in our faces."
"We'll deal with it when, or if, we have to, Chuck. We're already pushing it as it is, if you know what I mean." To drive the point home she wrapped her arm around him and leaned over to kiss his neck then nibble his ear lobe affectionately, and it took all of her willpower to do it, as she starkly came to the realization it was because it wasn't an act. She wasn't trying to manipulate a mark this time. This time it was someone she cared about and it gave her pause.
"Hiyo." Chuck's brain locked up for a moment. "You're treading on very dangerous ground there, Sarah," he said when he got his eyes uncrossed.
"I know," she said with resignation. "But I'm not going to fight what I'm feeling, Chuck. I can't. Did your mother fight it?"
He placed his palm on her cheek and then ran it over her shoulder and down her arm. She tried to fight back a shiver that ran through her. "No, she didn't. My grandmother said Mom bowled Dad over. At the time she told me about it I thought it was just yucky," he smiled and rolled his eyes, "I was only eight when Grams told me that."
One look at the smile on Chuck's face was all Sarah needed to know that she was a goner. In that moment it struck her that it wasn't only Chuck's mom that bowled his father over, but probably also the very same unassuming smile on his father's face that had knocked his mother over like a set of ten pins. She was completely lost in that smile and all she wanted to do was kiss it.
She thought briefly about the plan and the cover story she had come up with to explain her and Casey's presence. It had all stemmed from Chuck's ad-libbing on the ramp at the airport with his two very unusual customers - at least she hoped very much they weren't the norm. A government contract involving remote sensing would help explain the many things that might be happening around the airport and the inevitable official visitor. She had taken Chuck's idea and expanded on it some, anticipating the need for growth in infrastructure and new employees that would be needed to accomplish her mission. A mission she now realized involved much more than the work Chuck would be doing for the CIA and the NSA. Her mission had now become very personal. It now involved building and protecting a future for the two of them as well. She was 'all in', and she knew it.
"Do you trust me, Chuck?"
When he looked back at her she saw a mix of turbulent emotions in his eyes and on his face. He smiled at her ruefully and opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again into a tight line.
"I don't want you to be paranoid around me. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. Please believe that," she said, looking at her hands in her lap.
"I'm trying, Sarah," he said quietly, "I'm sorry. We only met a few days ago. Sometimes I feel like I'm being played. I can't help myself. You're so unbelievably amazing, just so out of my league. I know the world you come from, and in spite of all that I'm still glad you're here. I know I need you here. And I want to trust you… and so much more," he added, with almost a whisper.
Sarah forced herself to look up from her hands and make eye contact with him. She had to show him somehow that what she was doing wasn't an act; that what she was feeling was real. "What was it you told me in the plane about trying Chuck?" she asked, with a sad smile. Chucks eyes shot to hers. Good. "I'm not out of your league… not by a long shot. And don't be sorry. I won't lie to you, Chuck. I am manipulating you a little. But it's to protect you. And it's to protect myself. Because I'm not sure if I could handle what would happen to me if something happened to you." Please believe that, because it's true.
"So your motives are somewhat selfish." He was watching her eyes carefully as he said it, seeing a smile sparkle there before it showed on the rest of her face.
"Yes. Very selfish," she answered, with that slightly guarded and closed mouth signature grin he was starting to love.
"I can live with that," he said, grinning back lopsidedly. He understood what she was telling him. He felt the same way, and her simple admission made something click in him, like he had finally found the right key to the lock on a very large ring of identical looking keys.
Chuck reached up and pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek with his palm. He placed his other hand on her knee and Sarah watched him lean in realizing he was going to initiate his first kiss with her all on his own. His lips had barely made electrifying contact with hers when there were three sharp raps on the front door and it swung open.
"Alright, little brother, what is going on around here? Who does that motor home belong to?" Ellie looked at the two sitting very close on the bar stools, Chuck sitting bolt upright, red faced, and Sarah with her hand on her forehead covering her eyes. "Oops, sorry about that. Hope I didn't interrupt anything." Her grin didn't match her contrite voice.
"Jeez, El, one of these days…" Chuck stopped short when he saw the look in Sarah's eyes as she peeked at him through her fingers.
"Sorrrry."
"It's okay, Ellie," but before Sarah could say anything more Ellie cut her off.
"No, it's not okay. I shouldn't be barging in here like a bull in a china shop. I apologize. This is taking a bit to get used to, that's all."
"Ellie this is your family home, you should never feel like you have to knock."
"Well in the interest of avoiding some extremely awkward moments, don't you think I ought to?" she asked Sarah back with a smirk. Her smile turned to morbid curiosity when Chuck's expression turned to veiled horror and she heard someone decidedly male clear his throat through the open door behind her.
Ellie turned around to see a very large man with a chiseled face and dark, short cropped hair standing on the porch with a raised eyebrow. He had a small smile on his face that Sarah wasn't sure was for the cover or what he had heard Chuck's sister say.
"The motor home is mine," John Casey said evenly "You must be Chuck's sister. The name is John Casey. I'm Chuck's new A&P mechanic. Pleased to meet you…?"
"Eleanor… Ellie. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Casey," she said, after her mouth clacked back shut.
Casey stepped into the entry and offered Ellie his hand, "Please, call me John. I'm not much of one for formality."
"O.K., John," she answered, distinctly separating the O and the K as she shook his hand. Ellie turned back to her brother and gave him a suspicious look he'd seen all too often growing up; eyes narrowed, one corner of her mouth pulled over, and a quick tilt of the head. "Chuck, isn't one huge mechanic enough?"
"Wewewewell, I've been meaning to talk to you about that Ellie," Chuck stammered, "I've suddenly got a whole bunch more business that's requiring me to hire more help."
"Outside, Chuck."
"Whawha-what? El, we can-"
"Outside. NOW." Ellie turned to Sarah and Casey, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to speak to my brother in private for a moment."
Casey and Sarah exchanged an uncomfortable and curious glance at each other. "It's alright Chuck, we'll just wait for you in here," said Sarah, giving him an apologetic smile.
Chuck returned Sarah that look of resignation she'd seen more than once in the last few days, shrugged, and then silently followed his sister out the front door.
"What the hell is going on, Chuck?" Ellie whispered loudly as the door shut.
Sarah winced when, looking through the front window, she watched Ellie grab her brother's arm near the elbow and drag him off the porch into the driveway. She couldn't hear it, but the questioning looked severe, like an interrogation.
"Hnmg. She's a ball of fire. Is she going to be any trouble?"
Sarah looked at the NSA agent who was wearing a subtle smirk, and frowned. "Not if I can help it, but we may have our work cut out for us." Don't crack on me now, Chuck.
"Looks like I'm gonna get to see what this guy's really made of sooner than I thought," said Casey, gruffly, and rapidly.
"I thought you found that out at the cabin."
"Could've been an aberration."
"I assure you, it wasn't," replied Sarah, sternly.
"Guess we'll see, if he survives that, heh. She'd make a good interrogation trainer at the Farm."
Sarah couldn't disagree with that assessment. All of a sudden she was not looking forward to her afternoon of shopping with Chuck's sister. Then she looked at Casey curiously as he seemed to be enjoying the show. She wondered how much more he had heard. He was keeping his mouth shut so far about her and Chuck. She suspected that wasn't going to last.
-V-
Eventually Chuck and Ellie came back into the house. Chuck looked contrite, and Ellie, well, Sarah couldn't decide what was going on with Ellie; she had an amazing poker face. It shocked Sarah how much that face looked like one of a seasoned operative. Her guard really came up when Ellie looked at her and smiled brightly.
"So, Sarah, are you ready to go do some shopping? I feel the need, the need for… another pair of pointy toed boots," she said, as she gave her brother a very pointed look.
Oh God, Chuck. What did you tell her? Sarah's eyes met Chuck's and he barely perceptibly shook his head. He didn't look happy. She assumed it was because he'd spent the last fifteen minutes lying to his sister. The sixty-four dollar question hanging in the air was how successful he'd been at it. And Ellie's comment about boot shopping didn't make her feel confident.
"Sure Ellie, I'm ready when you are. I'm really excited about it." She smiled at Chuck pleasantly and expectantly, "Are you up for some shopping, Chuck?"
"Sorry, Sarah, but this big stinker is staying here in the dog house. It's just us girls this time. I've had enough of his obfuscating brattiness for one afternoon. He's a pain to shop with anyway and he'll only cramp our style." She said it all with a smile on her face, and it was comically odd how amicable Ellie sounded, but without any question that her brother wasn't going to be coming along.
"It's okay, Sarah," Chuck said, seeing the look of consternation on her face, "I'd only be a third wheel anyway, and John and I need to talk some about the work I have lined up for him at the airport."
Sarah exchanged a wary look with Chuck and Casey, and then pasted a smile on her face. "I guess we'll see you later then." After a second of hesitation and a glance at Casey she stepped up to Chuck and took his hands and gave him a peck on the cheek. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of Casey's eyebrows turn up ever so slightly. "Try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone, okay?"
"I should be telling you that. Your credit card is in serious jeopardy," said Chuck, with a sheepish smile.
"You mean you're not letting her use your company card?" Ellie asked challengingly.
Chuck looked at his sister and, as he rolled his eyes, reached into his pocket and pulled his credit card from his billfold. Sarah shook her head, "No Chuck, I can buy my own work clothes, I'm not accepting that."
"Take it," he said with a lopsided grin, taking her hand, setting the card in her palm, and closing her hand around it, "it'll help me get some street cred back with my sister. I'll see you later. Have a good time."
Ellie grinned devilishly at her brother, and huffed, "It's a good start. C'mon Sarah, let's go. I want to have a ride in your Porsche," she added, smiling brightly at her new girlfriend.
Chuck looked over at Casey a little trepidatiously when the door closed.
"What was that about between Walker and you?" Casey asked suspiciously.
"What do you mean?"
Casey growled in a way that made Chuck take a half step back. "Do I have to spell it out for you, numbnuts?" He put his hands together and cracked his knuckles.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Chuck pursed his lips and shrugged. "Ellie thinks Sarah is my girlfriend. It was for the cover."
"Hmn. Uh, huh. I wonder how that could've possibly happened." Casey looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "Bein' as you got smacked on the nose with a rolled up newspaper, we may as well get some work done. Come with me, I have some files for you to look at. After we're done with that I want to see what's in that gun cabinet," he said, pointing across the room at the porcelain Winchester logo.
-VI-
Thankfully, the drive to the western store in Bakersfield turned out to be interrogation free, at least as far as the grilling Chuck had received in front of his house was concerned. Ellie had asked Sarah several questions about herself, which she was able to answer with a mixture of truth, small lies, deception, and deflection. Chuck's sister had managed to get more personal information out of her than Chuck had so far. Things like the college she attended and her major, and the town she was born in. And even a few of the countries she had traveled to. That bothered her more than a small amount. She now hoped that Chuck didn't find out about these things from his sister. She really needed to be more forthcoming with him.
But she liked Ellie… a lot. She was an intelligent and strong willed woman, with a significant amount of savvy and a bubbly personality. It was very hard not to like her, much like her brother. And Chuck had been right, again. Ellie spent some of the drive sharing some humorous and embarrassing stories about growing up with her brother. Ellie gave her the impression that Chuck was quite a scamp when he was younger, constantly into mischief. Thinking back on the last few days made her recognize he still had that in him.
Sarah stepped out of the dressing room wearing a pair of Wrangler jeans and turned around in front of the mirror.
"Oh. My. Gosh," exclaimed Ellie, standing behind her with her hands on her hips, "And to think I thought you looked disgustingly gorgeous fresh out of the sack."
Sarah grinned back at her in the mirror, "You think they look okay?"
"Are you kidding me? They look fantastic! They do need to be longer though if you want to wear them over your boots."
Sarah looked at how the jeans were already dragging on the floor and looked at Ellie skeptically.
"Trust me, you want them to gather a bit over your boots when you're standing up so they won't ride up when you're sitting in the saddle."
"Well, I'm kind of new to all this so I'll follow your lead. What if I want to wear them in my boots like you do?"
"You can roll them up some before you tuck them in. They stay in the boots better that way." Ellie handed Sarah several work shirts and a couple more pairs of jeans, "Here, try these on, then we'll see about a couple of pairs of boots and a hat or two for you."
"You're kidding. You mean like a cowboy hat?"
Ellie giggled back over her shoulder as she started marching across the store, "What other kind of a hat is there? You're going to need a couple of belts too, and some more dressy stuff."
Sarah blew out her breath forcefully as she stepped back into the dressing room. Oh, my God, this girl makes Carina look like a rank amateur when it comes to power shopping! I can't put all this stuff on Chuck's credit card!
Sarah's eyes almost popped out of her head when she came back out of the dressing room to see all of the clothes that Ellie had brought for her to try on. And then Ellie held up a very large engraved oval silver belt buckle with a gold heart on it, waving it around held in both hands with a huge grin on her face. I stand corrected. She can out-shop the entire CAT Squad put together!
Three hours later Sarah and Ellie emerged from the store with several large shopping bags, two hat boxes, two garment bags, and four boot boxes. Sarah had a glazed look in her eyes as they worked to get it all into her Porsche. To top it all off, as she was attempting to get over the cash register shock - and she had insisted on paying for some of the dressier clothes with her own money - Ellie walked up behind her and bought several pieces of sterling silver jewelry, handing Sarah a pair of heart shaped earrings as they started to gather it all up. Even the sales clerk was astounded. She said it was the biggest sale she had ever made.
As they drove back down the highway, with Sarah staring straight ahead in a state of shock, Ellie hit her right between the eyes with the questions.
"So Sarah, what's this deal Chuck has with the government contract, do you know anything about that? Is that why he hired you?"
Sarah turned her large, glazed cerulean eyes to Ellie, "I'm sorry? What?"
"Chuck told me he had to hire more help for some government contract he'd been awarded, is that why he hired you and John?"
Sarah's mind spiraled for the briefest of moments. She didn't know what Chuck had told Ellie, but she needed to make sure their stories matched. And, if she asked Ellie too many or the wrong questions she would probably get suspicious, or worse. "Ellie, I don't think he hired me because of that, but I think he probably hired Mr. Casey due to it. Chuck had me come with him to the airport yesterday morning and he met with some people from the Air Force to discuss some sort of remote sensing contract. Something about air quality and infrared and thermal groundwater studies. It sounded like a joint project between the military and the USDA."
"Well that's more than I got out of Chuck. He was quite evasive about it. He only kept dancing around my questions. Sometimes he can be so irritating. He's just like his father."
Damn it, Chuck! What is so hard about a damn cover story? The contract was drawn up to be real. You didn't even have to lie about it! Crap! "I don't have any details about it for you, Ellie. But I do know that Chuck was as surprised about the whole thing as much as you are." Isn't that the truth! And I need to find out more about his dad.
"God, Sarah, he's already busier than a one armed wallpaper hanger. How's he going to keep up with all of this too?"
That's a very good question. "I really don't know. If it's any consolation I'll be helping him as much as I can. It looks like we are going to be very, very busy. You might not see much of us for a while."
"Well I hope you and he will be around for the barbecue on Memorial Day weekend. That's a pretty big deal for our family and friends."
"I understand. Chuck told me most of your family were veterans. I'll try to make sure we're able to stay on top of things so there are no problems for that weekend."
Ellie reached over and surprised Sarah by squeezing her hand on the console, "Thanks, Sarah. I'm glad you're around for Chuck. I don't know how he found you, but I have a good feeling about the two of you."
If you only knew… dammit. Sarah reached up to her ear, "Thanks for the earrings, by the way. You really shouldn't have, you know."
"Aw, it was nothing. It's the least I could do for my brother's girlfriend."
Sarah sighed and smiled sheepishly at Chuck's sister. She was beginning to wonder if she'd made the wrong decision about her.
-VII-
"This's one of the finest examples of a pre-'64 Model 70 I've ever seen, Bartowski." John Casey cradled the pristine bolt action rifle chambered in .300 Winchester magnum in his hands like it was a priceless archaeological artifact. He held it up, inspecting the eye relief of the old Leupold Vari-X 3X9 scope. "Is it a shooter?"
"Absolutely. All of these guns are for shooting, even that Model 94 coach rifle. Our family never thought a classic firearm should sit on a display rack its entire life. That .300 magnum is a tack driver. Just say the word if you ever want to shoot it."
"Hmg, maybe a bit overpowered for driving tacks. Too bad it's starting to get dark."
"Then tomorrow if you want. It's no big deal."
"You need to get your priorities straight, moron."
Chuck held the big NSA's agent's glare for a few seconds before the intimidating stare got the better of him. He let himself grin ever so subtly at the floor between his feet. It hadn't taken him that long to figure out John Casey's modus operandi where insults were concerned. He suspected Casey saved them for people he respected in a collegial sense or as a mentor. He certainly wasn't going to test him on it, though. He knew a control freak when he saw one.
"Fine. If you can't wait I'll go get you some ammo. I've got some 200 grain Sierra MatchKing boat tails ready to go."
The Major shot him a critical look with narrowed eyes. "You're a smartass, you know that? Tomorrow's fine."
"Your patience is a thing to admire."
"HMNG"
They both turned to the front door when they heard boots tromping up the steps to the porch. "Chuck? Can you give us a hand with this stuff?" asked Ellie, as she and Sarah walked through the door with shopping bags in their hands.
"Holy country girl makeover, Batman…" Chuck's gaze was transfixed on the vision in front of him. He was stunned. Sarah stood in the doorway in a pair of tight fitting Wrangler jeans and bullhide cowboy boots. There was a braided horsehair belt around her very small waist, sporting a large silver buckle with a gold heart in the center. And, she was wearing a very nicely fitted pink and green plaid, Cruel Girl, long-sleeved shirt that really showed off the top half of her figure. The emerald green in the shirt was pulling her eye color that direction like he'd seen before. Topping it all off was a low crown straw cowboy hat with a horse hair hat band.
"What the hell happened to you, Walker?" Casey slipped with an expression rarely seen on his face.
"Chuck's sister," she exclaimed with a smirk. Sarah locked eyes with Chuck, "You like?" she asked, already easily knowing the answer from his beaming smile.
"Oh, WOW, most definitely!" Chuck took a very sudden breath. "You look… absolutely… incredible." What did I ever do to deserve this? D'oh! Oh, yeah, I opened the wrong email. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but, thank you, Bryce.
Then Sarah turned around slowly like a runway model and looked over her shoulder at Chuck with a smile once she had her back to him. Casey almost dropped the precious Winchester rifle and Chuck's mouth fell wide open.
"Meep."
Ellie laughed, "I told you, Sarah…"
"Yeah, you did. Who would have thought," she answered, with a giggle.
"Well that went about as expected," Ellie said with a laugh, "I haven't heard my brother squeak like that in a while." She shook her head, "C'mon guys, we've got some burgers in the car, help us get all of these goodies."
"Did someone say food?" said Morgan, poking his head in through open door. "Whoa! Sarah! Be still my beating heart…"
"Ugh, there is way too much estrogen floating in this room, I need some fresh air."
-VIII-
"Hamburgers on fine china. Hmn, I've got to hand it to you Bartowski, you've got style."
They were all sitting at one end of the large dining table, the remnants of a big pile of fries and onion rings on a shared platter between them and a bottle of wine next to it.
"It's kind of the way we roll around here," said a very distracted Chuck, ignoring what, he'd concluded, would be a very rare compliment from John Casey.
Try as he might he couldn't take his eyes off of Sarah. Her fashion transformation had completely floored him. He was currently gazing at the silver heart shaped earrings she was wearing on her gorgeous ears.
"You like them?"
Chuck swallowed a bite of his burger with a gulp and blinked, "Huh? What?"
"The earrings, you goof. Your sister got them for me."
"Oh, Yeah. Very much. They go with your belt buckle."
"That's what I thought," said Ellie with a smirk.
"You really are a sight, Sarah," said Morgan dreamily. "Do you have a sister?"
"Hng, the lady feelings. You morons are an embarrassment."
"It was a valid question," retorted Morgan incredulously. "Do you have a mechanical heart?"
Casey made a growl that caused Morgan's eyes to shoot open wide.
"Touchy subject there, big guy?" Chuck immediately regretted saying it when he looked across the table at Sarah and their eyes locked.
"No, sorry, no sister, Morgan," said Sarah quietly.
"And that is a huge loss for me and the world," replied the bearded man.
"Thanks." Sarah cast him a warm but guarded smile. She looked back over at Chuck and caught him looking at her with an apologetic and adoring expression showing on his face and in his eyes. A small smile showed on her own face when he held her gaze. After a few seconds they both became cognizant that they were being watched.
"Well I've had about enough of this. I'm headed back to the motor coach." Casey rose from his seat and picked up his plate. "Thanks for dinner Eleanor."
"Please, call me Ellie, John."
Casey looked back at her and nodded stoically. "Ellie."
"You can go ahead and put that plate on the counter, Casey. I'll wash it," said Chuck, still trying to be a good host.
"Hnm." He walked out of the kitchen past them and raised a hand with his back to them as he made for the door, "Night."
There was a chorus of 'good nights', and they all watched as John Casey walked out the door without another word.
"He's an interesting man," Morgan deadpanned, "Haven't seen someone like him since the last time I watched Robocop."
"I kind of like him." All eyes in the room instantly, and incredulously, shot to Ellie. "C'mon. He seems like a nice enough guy," she said defensively.
"The man is certainly no Captain Awesome."
"Morgan, Ixnay on the Aptaincay Awesome-ay," said Chuck, with a warning tone.
"Are you kidding me, little brother, Pig Latin?" Ellie cleared her throat and rolled her eyes dramatically as she started to rise from her chair and pick up some plates from the table. "You know, Devon is waiting for me at home. I definitely need to get going. Sarah, it was a lot of fun today. Let's do that again sometime."
"I had fun too, Ellie. Thanks for helping me out." But Chuck is going to freak when he gets the bill. Just as soon as the guilty thought crossed her mind, she looked up and saw Chuck beaming at her like he had read her thoughts from across the table. This time his smile was so engaging she couldn't hold his gaze and her eyes shot to the side. "Here, Ellie, let me help you with those," she said, as she rose to pick up the remaining dishes.
The light banter continued for a few minutes until the dishes were put away and Ellie said her goodbyes and left with a hug for her brother and Sarah. Chuck was a bit relieved that Morgan didn't need a shove out the door tonight since he had walked up from the caretaker's house, and decided to hitch a ride back with Ellie.
Chuck and Sarah glanced curiously at each other, and then first at their clasped hands, followed by each other's waving hands, as they stood on the front porch watching Ellie's truck drive away. It was a strange new feeling for both of them; so… domestic. Their first night alone together in Casa Bartowski, and they were suddenly gazing at each other like a couple of awkward teenagers.
"Don't we need to put the Cub away, Chuck?"
"Already did it. Casey helped me shortly before you got back."
Sarah gripped his hand that she had holding tightly. "I've got to say, I was very surprised to see the way you two were getting along when we got back. I was worried about leaving you alone with him."
Chuck scratched his head with his free hand. "Common ground, I guess. We're both pilots and we both like shooting. We had something we could talk about. He had me check some files today too while you were gone. I flashed a few times, so we also ended up talking shop for a while… debriefing." He smiled, and rolled his eyes, "That is going to take some getting used to."
"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, her concern unmasked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. It gave me a huge headache, and Casey wasn't particularly patient during the debrief, but I'm okay now." Chuck turned to her and gave her an appraising look in her western wear. "Wow, you look so amazing. I can't get over it."
"Thank you." Sarah smiled back at him demurely. "Shopping with your sister was an experience I won't soon forget."
"No doubt. Ellie puts the 'pow' in power shopper, so don't worry about the bill. Seeing you like that makes it all worth it." He flashed the Bartowski smile back at her and it made her pulse quicken as she smiled sheepishly at him, but Sarah reluctantly dropped his hand when her well practiced spy senses told her they were being watched.
"We should go inside," she whispered, glancing surreptitiously at the motor home, "Casey's watching us."
Chuck turned toward the door, waiting until he was facing away from the garage to answer her. "I was wondering about that."
They walked into the house and no sooner had they closed the door, when Sarah pressed a finger to Chuck's lips and held a finger to her own. She led him by the hand into the kitchen and turned on the faucet full blast. "Was Casey in the house alone at all today?" she whispered into his ear.
Sarah's breath in his ear caused his brain to seize up and it took him several seconds longer to answer than it should have. Chuck's eyes narrowed as he thought about it, and then shook his head.
"Are you sure?" she asked, her breath hot on his neck.
Chuck took a deep breath as he closed his eyes from the warm sensation and then responded in kind. "I'm certain," he whispered back, "I was with him the whole time," he said breathily, and Sarah's own breath hitched.
Sarah fixed a searching gaze on his eyes for a few seconds and then quickly reached over to shut the water off and pull him from the room with a firm grip on his wrist. She led him into his dark bedroom and let her gaze travel around the room pausing with her eyes on the windows and frowning. Then she suddenly smiled and almost bodily dragged him into the den/home theater room.
She turned on the wall sconces, adjusting the lighting down low, closed the doors behind them, and turned swiftly around to face him with a smile filled with mirth. "Did you and Casey come in here?"
"No, we never left the living area."
"Good. Thank God there are no windows in this room," she said with a soft giggle, and a conspiratorial look.
A huge smile slowly spread across Chuck's face and a short laugh rolled off his tongue. Sarah stood there, smiling at him, waiting for him to finish what he had started to do that afternoon before Ellie had interrupted him… well, them. She had been such a willing participant, but she wanted the initiation of this moment to once again be all his.
Sarah felt her breath hitch again as he stepped forward and spread one of his warm hands across the small of her back and held her other hand in a tight interwoven grip. As he gazed into her eyes, she could see him getting lost in them. That was exactly what she wanted, and she tried with all her might to pour all of her emotion into her own eyes, so he could see in them just how she felt, how it was all so very real. And as she did, she became lost in his. She molded her body into him, sensing the delicious contact from her knees up to her chest. Her eyes darted to his lips and it caused his to do the same, the simple change of attention drawing them together.
Chuck's hand released hers and came up to stroke her soft blonde hair, trailing down her neck as he glided his outstretched thumb along her jaw and caressed her neck below her ear with his fingertips. The sensation was electric. It danced between them like Saint Elmo's fire. Then their lips crashed together like two powerful magnets brought close enough together to cause the inevitable, and Sarah Walker felt him give her a kiss that made her knees buckle and her toes curl in her new boots. She was completely drawn in as she returned the kiss with everything that she had. There was a sudden flurry of hands, as they explored every inch of each other and then started fumbling with each other's shirt buttons and belt buckles and pants buttons and…
All the while, their lips were locked in an open mouthed kiss as they slowly turned and danced across the room, finally falling together over the back of one of the large chair and a half's. They stretched out across the chair and ottoman, their legs tangled together over the soft cushions on the back of the chair.
"My boots… help me with my boots," she whispered, as she broke the kiss for a second, grinning up at him with her trembling hands framing his face. Chuck gave her another quick kiss, smiled back, and then jumped to his feet and pulled her new cowboy boots off one at a time. Then he paused, mesmerized, as he looked at her splayed out across the chair with her long slender legs over the back of it and her blond tresses fanned out across the edge of the ottoman.
"Well, don't stop there, my pants," she said as she pulled the zipper down with the accompanying sound from which it had gotten its name. He grabbed her jeans at the bottoms behind her heels, and tugged them off as she arched her back and raised her bottom causing him to almost fall on his ass when they came free. "Oh, my, gosh!" he exclaimed when he looked down at her in her black lace boy shorts and legs that seemed to go forever, draped open over the low back of the chair. Her open shirt exposed her toned bare midriff and the matching black lace demi bra that she filled so well. "God, you're beautiful, Sarah, just breathtaking," he said with a sharp exhale.
She smiled up at him, taken aback by the stark honesty of his words, while admiring his bare and defined chest with dark curly hair spread across it and his swimmers physique with such a flat and toned stomach accentuated by a dark streak of soft brown hair that dove under his belt buckle. The sight had caught her off guard and it made her nibble on her lower lip. "You're pretty darn cute yourself," she whispered back, as she felt her own hand on her heaving chest. Sarah reached into her bra, and pulled a small black knife, with a wicked serrated blade from a holder in the lining along the shoulder strap and laid it on the coffee table with a wry grin.
Chuck's eyes went wide as he stared at the blade, then he smiled broadly and started to pull his own boots off. It turned into a comical hopping dance, as he bounced around the room trying to get them off, and all the while Sarah giggling hysterically. His jeans were quickly gone in the final steps of his dance and he fell back into the chair. She reached for him and they coiled around each other kissing and nipping, on lips, chests, shoulders, necks, and ears before meeting again for another mind-numbingly long and passionate kiss.
They came up for air and Chuck looked at her searchingly as he held her head in his hands, caressing her temples in soft circles with his thumbs. "This is happening so fast, Sarah," he whispered, with confusion reigning in his voice, "are you sure this is what you want?"
Her eyes locked on his and she nodded her head emphatically. Oh, Chuck, I can't believe after all this you're still giving me an out. Believe me; I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was. I don't make decisions like this lightly, and this goes against all my training. I'm not sure you have any idea of the war raging in me, or how badly I want this. It's not just about sex. Don't you see that? Can't you feel it? Why can't I tell you this? You need to hear me say it! I am such a coward.
"Yes. Yes, I want this. I want you, Chuck," she answered with soft conviction as she held him tight against her with one hand and stroked his cheek with the back of fingertips of the other. Oh, do I ever want you. Please don't back out on me now, Chuck Bartowski.
"Sarah, I don't want you to regret-"
She lifted her head and cut him off with a deep kiss as her hands started to roam over him. "That is not going to happen… to either of us," she said, as she relaxed her head back with their lips barely touching, "and I'm going to prove it to you right now." She kissed him again, and raked the nails of one hand across his back while running the fingers of the other through his hair, and she knew as the kiss deepened and she put all of her soul into it, that there was no stopping, no going back for them. She could feel it in that moment - as he held her and kissed her in that heart stopping and amazing way she had never experienced before - that they were both all in.
As they kissed their hands resumed their exploring, over, through, and under their undergarments. In minutes those too were gone, as they flew over the back of the chair. Chuck and Sarah were now completely unencumbered, skin seeking contact with skin wherever it could be found, and they were only barely getting started with each other. Because the night was still so very young.
A/N The Genie is now out of the bottle and I'm not even going to attempt to put her back in. (she looks so damn good in all that see-through pink).
You know, one of the fun things about ending a chapter like this, and in a place like this, is that you can carry it forward however and wherever your imagination desires. And then I get to start the next chapter with so many delicious possibilities that then let us compare notes about just where our imaginations traveled in between. Share your notes with me. :)