Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck.
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Shippers, if you're not happy with this chapter, I don't know what to tell you. I promise it'll all work out as it usually does. Thanks to Natty for the excellent beta. And thanks to BrickRoad for being the brains of the operation. It's her fault that the story has so much angst (not really but it helps me sleep better). I slipped this chapter in while she was out shopping on Black Friday.
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The Father Figure
- - - -
"Oh my God," Sarah said to no one in particular as she stared at the table. "I'm going to have to kiss him."
"Kiss who?" Chuck asked with a smile.
"Casey," Sarah whispered as she indicated with her head Casey who was shredding the transcripts from today's briefing.
"Why on earth would you kiss Casey?" Chuck asked in surprise.
"Laura is going to be watching us." Sarah said. "She's going to be expecting me to kiss him."
"So," Chuck said in a confused tone. "Kiss him then."
"You don't get it." Sarah replied with a sigh. "I'm going to have to sell that we're engaged and I'm leaving for a few days. I'm going to have to kiss him with passion."
"What's the matter, Walker?" Casey said with a smirk. "Afraid you won't be able to stop?"
"Why would that bother you, Sarah?" Chuck asked suddenly concerned. "I mean, no offense, but you kiss lots of men. What's so different about Casey?"
"But Casey is different." Sarah whispered as the blush began to travel up her neck."
"What are you saying?" Chuck said as his brows furrowed noticeably. "Do I have something to worry about?"
"Yea, Walker," Casey said as his smirk widened. "What gives?"
"Of course not silly," Sarah said with a laugh as she punched Chuck in the arm playfully. "It's just that I've come to look at Casey as sort of a father figure. Kissing him like that just seems … I don't know … wrong somehow."
"A father figure," Chuck said as a smirk appeared on his own face. "Are you sure it's not a grandfather figure?"
"Cute," Casey said as his smirk disappeared only to be replaced by a scowl. "How old do you think I am anyway?"
"I'm not sure." Chuck said as he quickly glanced around the room. "Sweetie, have you seen my calculator anyplace?"
"Very funny, smart ass," Casey said as his scowl turned into a full fledged growl. "Come on, Walker. We're both professionals. What's the big deal? We'll kiss, and then you'll go on your merry way. Just wait a few minutes before you try and drive. We don't want any innocents getting hurt."
"Wait a minute," Chuck said skeptically. "So you're saying that you could have Sarah kiss you with an open mouth and not have it affect you at all? I don't believe it."
"Don't be stupid, Bartowski," Casey said gruffly. "This is the business that we're in. It comes with the territory."
"I don't know," Chuck said with a grin. "Sarah is a great kisser. She is also an incredibly beautiful woman."
"Granted," Casey growled in return. "But here's a news flash, Bartowski. There isn't a female CIA agent that isn't an absolute babe. It's a prerequisite. I'm sure that Laura Carter is a knockout as well. An agent is trained to not let that kind of stuff affect us."
"You're sure about that?" Sarah said softly with a sly smile as she stood and turned to face Casey. "There haven't been many guys that I couldn't get a reaction from."
"Of course," Casey said dismissively. "Why don't you two grow up…?"
Casey was interrupted as Sarah put her arms around his head and pressed her lips to his. Chuck could see Casey's eyes widen in surprise. After a moment, Sarah opened her mouth. It was only a brief moment before Casey followed suit as he quickly closed his eyes in surrender. After about thirty seconds Sarah broke the kiss.
"That's what I thought." Sarah said with a smirk of her own as she watched the blush quickly travel up Casey's neck. "I hope you have better luck with Laura Carter. You're going to end up handcuffed to your bed for sure, Mr. Professional Agent. And, by the way, you were right. She is absolutely gorgeous."
"I guess kissing him isn't going to be a problem after all." Sarah said as she smiled knowingly at Chuck and quickly grabbed his hand and led him to the exit. Just before they left the room, Chuck called out.
"Hey, Casey,"
"Umm," was all Casey could manage in response as he sat numbly in his chair.
"Who's your daddy now?"
- - - -
Chuck and Sarah were in the car driving to Ellie's. She had insisted on making them dinner. Then she had obviously conspired with Sarah to drag Chuck and Devon out dancing. Chuck was fairly sure this was just to torture him, knowing how self conscious he was on the dance floor. Chuck flashed back to the time Ellie she had set him up with the new cute intern and insisted they go dancing. Chuck had taken to drinking to get over his fear of dancing in public. Ellie still teased him about the fool he made of himself that night. There would certainly be no repeat of that tonight. Especially since he had promised Sarah that he would have her back. He would definitely have to watch his drinking tonight. Maybe just a couple to loosen up his dancing shoes.
Chuck looked over at Sarah sitting in the passenger's seat. She looked to be a million miles away. One good thing had come of Sarah's ankle injury. She had actually taught him how to drive the Porsche. Ok, so she had rented another stick shift car to practice on. But once he had proven to her that he could handle it, she had no problems with him driving. Chuck took that as just another example of how she really felt about him.
"Sorry to interrupt your daydream," Chuck said with a smile. "But can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Sarah said as she turned towards Chuck with her sweet smile.
"Did you ever let Bryce drive your car?"
"No way," Sarah said as her smile dissolved into a puzzled look. "Bryce knew better than to even ask. The only time he has ever driven this car was the night that we rescued you from Becky Ivan. And I could tell that he was nervous as hell about it then."
"Good," Chuck said softly as he turned his gaze back to the road.
"Hey," Sarah said softly as her face broke into a grin and she grabbed Chuck's hand that was resting on the gear shift handle. "This isn't about the car, is it?"
"I guess not,"
"Sweetie," Sarah said as she squeezed Chuck's hand for emphasis. "What's it going to take for you to believe that you're the love of my life? That no other man has ever come close to how I feel about you? Whatever it is, tell me and I'll do it."
"I know that we're going out to celebrate tonight." Chuck said with a sigh. "And I don't want to spoil that. So if this gets too heavy tell me and we'll talk about it some other time, ok?"
"Ok, sweetie" said Sarah with the concern evident in her voice. "Talk to me. What is bothering you?"
"When you kissed Casey a few minutes ago," Chuck said slowly. "Did you feel anything?"
"Oh my God," Sarah said with a laugh. "Please don't tell me that you're jealous of Casey."
"It just looked so real." Chuck whispered.
"Well it wasn't," Sarah said softly. "It was an act. When I was kissing Casey all I was thinking about was how long I would have to let it go to make it believable. I was counting the seconds in my head."
"But how…"
"You wouldn't believe how many hours I've had to practice." Sarah interrupted with a soft smile. "In training they made us practice on a doll. Try passionately kissing a doll sometime while an instructor is screaming at you."
"No thanks," Chuck said sadly. "But what about Seth? I mean, you must have kissed him for real, right? So how did you separate those real feelings from the ones yesterday?"
"Chuck," Sarah said softly as her smile disappeared and tears started to fill her eyes. "I want to tell you all about that. I do. When it's over, I promise that I'll tell you every detail. But right now is not a good time. I am still going to have to see him again tomorrow and I don't want to mess up my head about it. Please, you don't have anything to worry about. I promise."
"I'm sorry," Chuck quickly said as he squeezed Sarah's hand. "Please don't feel bad. I totally trust you."
"Thank you, sweetie," Sarah whispered as her smile returned. "I can't tell you how good that makes me feel."
Chuck pulled the Porsche into the parking lot. As they walked hand in hand towards Ellie's apartment, Sarah put her head on Chuck's shoulder.
"I bet you're wondering." Sarah said softly.
"About what?" Chuck replied.
"You're wondering how you can tell that it's real when I kiss you." Sarah said. "Aren't you?"
Chuck stopped at Ellie's door and turned to face Sarah. His sad nod brought a smile in response.
"You can't tell." Sarah whispered. "Not by any physical sign anyway. You just have to know."
With that Sarah got up on her tiptoes to be able to put her arms around Chuck's neck. Just before their lips met, Sarah whispered "Remember, I need you to trust me."
As their tongues danced, Chuck lost all track of time. The kiss might have lasted for a single minute or thirty. He wasn't quite sure. All he knew for sure was that he never wanted it to end. So he wrapped his arms around Sarah and held her tight as they continued to kiss. She felt so soft in his arms that he closed his eyes to make sure that he could concentrate on how good she felt.
As they continued to kiss, Chuck could hear Sarah softly moan. That's when the realization hit him. This very moment… right now, was the very highlight of his life. And nothing else really mattered to him anymore. Not Seth or Bryce. Not the CIA or the intersect. Not Fulcrum or an underground bunker. Not even the fact that his life had been turned upside down and would never be the same again.
Chuck could sense through the fog of his mind that Devon had opened the door and was watching them kiss. How long he had been standing there Chuck couldn't tell. Yesterday, he would have died from embarrassment. Today, it just didn't matter. All that mattered was the electricity that was flowing through his lips. Devon could watch all night if he wanted.
All that mattered was that he had the most amazing woman in the whole world in his arms. And she was making him feel, well, he couldn't really say. He didn't have anything in his life to compare it too. He had always known that he was in love with Sarah. He had been for a long time. But suddenly the realization of what that really meant came to him. For the first time, he actually understood what Sarah meant when she asked him to trust her with his soul. And, for the first time, he also realized that she truly trusted him. They had become one. As their tongues continued their passionate dance, for the first time he knew that his life was no longer his own. For better or for worse it now belonged to her.
It totally belonged to her.
- - - -
