Chuck VS The Unknown

Part 9

***555***

"Bryce is complicated," Chuck started.

"He's been brought up in passing several times, but neither of you have really said how you feel about him," Dreyfus pointed out.

"Bryce was my partner for a brief time before the Intersect incident. We were paired together for couple cover missions, the CIA thought we made a believable couple," Sarah explained.

"Obviously," Chuck snorted.

"Now who's jealous?" Sarah teased but she reached over squeezed his bicep.

"Before Sarah knew Bryce he was my college roommate, you know all of this…" Chuck accused Dreyfus.

"I do, but I want to hear you tell it."

"I was so excited to be at Stanford, I was a good student – a bit of a nerd really," Chuck paused when Sarah laughed and gave her a glare.

"A bit of a nerd," he continued, "and Stanford was my dream. My sister and I were on our own then and while I got good scholarships it was still a struggle, books and food and all the things that scholarships don't cover were a stress for us, but Ellie insisted I go."

"Because of that and the nerd part, I worked really hard my freshman year and didn't make a ton of friends. I was friendly enough and I don't think people disliked me, but I wasn't very social and one day I met Bryce. We hit it off, he was super smart but still had the social skills to have a great group of friends and he took me in, literally he invited me to room with him. I thought I hit the friend jackpot," Chuck said animatedly.

Sarah knew all of this, but hearing Chuck tell it made it so much sadder.

"Anyway, Bryce introduced me to Jill Roberts and we were best friends and Jill and I were dating and I was doing well in school and I thought everything was fine until it wasn't and I was out of Stanford, facing my despondent sister, Jill was with Bryce and I was working at the Buy More," Chuck rushed it all out.

"Bryce, like me, knew who Chuck was before he met him. He had just been recruited and his first assignment was Chuck and like me, Bryce grew quite fond of Chuck – in a very different way of course," Sarah clarified with a smirk.

"Bryce thought he was protecting me from the CIA by getting me expelled from Stanford, I learned that later, but he did think he was helping me," Chuck nodded.

"In the end though, when faced with a dire decision of what to do with the Intersect, Bryce sent it to the only person he truly trusted it with and that was Chuck," Sarah finished.

"I cursed him for it for a long time, but that decision set a lot of things in motion for me, changed my life in immeasurable ways. It cost me my father, but it brought me Sarah and Casey and a chance to do something extraordinary."

"And your little love triangle?" Dreyfus poked at the couple in front of him.

"It was never a triangle," Sarah pointed out, "It was an old boyfriend and a new man I was already madly in love with."

"Madly?" Chuck scoffed.

"Do I need to remind you again?" Sarah cocked her head in a challenge.

"So you never had any conflicting feelings when Bryce returned?" Dreyfus asked Sarah.

"I was happy he wasn't dead, that's just human, I never wished him harm. I cared for Bryce once, he was important to me, I mourned him, twice really, but once I met Chuck there was never another man I loved," Sarah admitted and Chuck looked up quickly with a question in his eyes.

"Never," Sarah reiterated.

"Ok," Chuck nodded with a small smile.

"Bryce could be a jerk, he pulled some crap trying to win me back, he tried to manipulate Chuck on more than one occasion, but I think he cared about both of us in his way and in the end, when I told him I was staying in Burbank, staying with Chuck, I think he was happy for us," Sarah shrugged.

"I let Bryce intimidate me, I didn't have my confidence yet with the spy thing or with Sarah and I let Bryce play on those insecurities. It was easier to concede everything to Bryce than to think I might fail at either."

"You didn't fail," Sarah touched him again.

"I know that now, but then," he blew out a breath, "I was so unsure of everything."

"I could have helped you then, I could have been more transparent," Sarah apologized.

"Bryce just reiterated what you had said over and over, that you & I could never be a thing, it was too dangerous. I believed him, I tried to not be in love with you, but I was. I was so in love with you Sarah and every now and then, when I looked at you or I touched you I knew you loved me too and that was worse."

Sarah just nodded, she remembered those days after the kiss in the warehouse when she could no longer deny her feelings to herself but tried so hard to keep them from Chuck, to keep them away from the mission.

"Bryce was just one of many roadblocks we faced," Sarah looked at Dreyfuss.

***555***

"Chuck?" Sarah called the next day as she padded out of the bathroom.

"Yeah?" he replied his eyes never leaving the book he was reading.

"I have a problem," Sarah said, although she didn't sound terribly distressed.

Chuck looked up from the baby book they bought on their way home from Dr. Dreyfus' office the day before. Sarah stood by the kitchen table in a black bikini.

"I see no problems," Chuck blinked rapidly.

"Chuck, I cannot wear this to a beach outing with my mother and 5 year old little sister," She held out her arms.

"You look…voluptuous," he hoped that was the right word.

"Well, if I do wear this," Sarah walked toward where Chuck was stretched out on the couch already dressed for the beach, "I won't have to bother telling my mother I am pregnant."

"I told you your body was changing," Chuck grinned as he glanced up and down her form.

"I need a new bathing suit," she reiterated.

"We'll stop at the Galleria on our way, we have plenty of time," he smiled and dog-eared the baby book, tossing it towards the beach bag Sarah had packed.

"OK," Sarah nodded and turned to head back to the bedroom.

"Hang on," Chuck halted her progress by reaching out to hold her hip.

"Mmmm?" she smiled shyly.

"If you are getting a new bathing suit am I to assume you will be taking this one off?" he teased his fingers along the waist of the black bikini bottom.

"That is the plan, yes?" she giggled as he tickled her skin with his fingers.

"Perhaps I can help you with that," he swung his legs off the couch and sat up, his lips finding her bare stomach at perfect kissing height.

Sarah leaned in to his lips, quickly straddling his lap and kneeling on the couch, her hands dove in to his hair, cradling his head against her body as he kissed all over the expansive bare skin the bikini revealed.

"I think I have sympathetic hormones," Chuck mentioned as kissed up to her collar bone.

"Is that a thing?"

"Not sure, but sympathetic morning sickness is a thing, but I wasn't there for that part."

"I didn't have that much morning sickness really," Sarah didn't want Chuck to think he missed out on too much the first couple months of her pregnancy, even the puking.

"Good, I hate the idea of you not feeling well," he nibbled on her ear lobe.

"I feel really really good right now," she wiggled into his lap more purposefully.

"You definitely do," Chuck agreed with a smirk.

Sarah shook her head with a laugh and then kissed him, really kissed him long and slow. She put so much into the kiss that she was surprised when he stood with her in his arms, her reaction time was off and she almost fell from his grip before she thought to circle his waist with her bare legs.

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Bed," he said as if it was obvious.

"I just made the bed. There is a perfectly good door there or a table," she indicated as he moved across the room.

"I am not making love to my pregnant wife on a table," he scoffed as he pushed the bedroom door open with his hip.

"I see. You had no problem with the couch in my office," Sarah was just messing with him now.

"Desperate times, but given the choice I will always prefer the comfort and space that our bed affords us," he finished as he laid her gently on said bed.

"I love you," she wrinkled her nose to indicate her delight with him.

"I know," he said and Sarah melted a little bit at the sincerity of his voice.

They had been through a lot these past few weeks, months and years. It could have destroyed them, any number of times over, it could have never even happened for them. Talking about Bryce yesterday had been hard for Sarah, she had loved Bryce once, she had cared about him as a partner in every sense of the word. He really was the only other man Sarah had let in other than Chuck, although nowhere near as much as Chuck. Bryce didn't know anything about her childhood or met her dad, those were things she had buried so deep, until Chuck.

"I want you…" Sarah was planning to say more but her voice caught in her throat as she saw Chuck's eyes turn golden with lust.

"What?" he cocked his head.

"I want you to love me forever," Sarah fought the lump of emotion that formed in the back of her throat.

"Oh, baby," Chuck crawled on to the bed next to her, laying a warm hand on her stomach, sliding it to her hip and tugging her into his arms, "there is no choice here, I will always love you."

"People fall out of love," she countered.

"Mmm," he pondered in his Chuck-like way as he stroked her skin, "I think some people assume love before it's actually there and then mourn it when it's gone. And sure, there are lots of people in love that lose sight of that, but I don't think the love is gone I think it gets buried under other things."

"We can't let that happen. We can't let our love get buried under our past mistakes," she spoke against the warm skin of his neck, her lips teasing at him as she made her point.

"We won't," he promised, his voice so deep and sincere it made her toes curl with just those two words.

"I need this," she whispered now and he knew she meant more than the really good sex they were about to have.

***555***

"I won't be long," Sarah promised as she left Chuck in the car at the Galleria.

He watched the sun of a perfect Southern California Saturday glint off her blonde hair as the flowy pink sundress she wore swirled around her.

Sarah had a lot of skills, precision shopping was among them. She knew she did not yet need a maternity bathing suit, just something with a little more coverage. She found a tankini with a blousy top in a shade of blue she knew Chuck would love, tried it on quick, paid for it and asked if the sales girl could cut off the tags before returning to the dressing room to wear it out of the store. She was back in the car in less than 10 minutes.

Chuck grinned as he pulled out, soft music on the radio, and Sarah partially reclined in the seat next to him.

"One thing about you has changed in all of this," Chuck mentioned casually.

"Oh?" she frowned in curiosity.

"You never let me drive this much," he grinned.

"I know, I definitely had control issues. If the whole Quinn thing taught me anything it was that control is not something we always have…well, control of. I think the baby will show us that too, so I am trying to let go of some of my more obvious ones."

"Huh," Chuck said impressed by the thoughtful logic.

"Also, you look really hot driving this car," Sarah smirked and reached out to pinch his cheek.

Chuck didn't stop grinning for the rest of the drive and when they pulled in to a parking spot at the beach where they were meeting Emma and Molly, Sarah sat up and leaned across the console to kiss him properly.

"Thanks, for waiting until we stopped," he smiled against her lips.

"I love you," she seemed to not be able to say it enough and Chuck wasn't going to complain or let a chance go by to reciprocate.

"I love you too, baby."

Chuck shouldered the beach bag and grabbed the 2 chairs he crammed in the Lotus' tiny trunk and used his free hand to circle Sarah's shoulder. It made it harder for them to walk, but they took their time and soon Sarah waved at Emma who was just standing up from her own chair, a giant blanket, an umbrella and cooler already set out.

Sarah broke from Chuck's side to hug her mother tight, Emma whispering words of love and thanks that Sarah was OK, quiet so as not to clue in Molly that anything was wrong. Molly was on her feet and bouncing around Chuck like a pinball.

"Will you go in the water with me, mom doesn't like the water and it is more fun with a friend," Molly bounced.

"Of course I'll go in the water with you Molly," Chuck promised his very young sister-in-law as he set up their chairs and grabbed some sunscreen from their bag.

"Good idea, Chuck," Emma noticed, "Molly you need a little more sunscreen."

Emma turned to get the sunscreen from her own bag as Sarah whipped the dress off revealing her newly purchased bathing suit. Chuck's eyes looked a bit like Roger Rabbit's for a second.

"What?" Sarah whispered as she closed the distance between them and took the sunscreen from him starting with her arms.

"That is a very nice bathing suit," he choked out the words.

Sarah pursed her lips in confusion, this bathing suit covered more of her than any bathing suit Chuck had ever seen her in, "yeah?"

"That color, it is the same as the sky over there," he turned her and pointed to the horizon, whispering in her ear "the darkest shade just as it meets the water. It's the color of your eyes when I make you…"

"Chuck, I'm ready to swim now!" Molly announced as Sarah shuddered under Chuck's hands.

"One sec Molly, be right with you," Chuck replied with a smile as he took over applying sunscreen to Sarah's bare back.

Chuck winked at a still slightly flustered Sarah as he grabbed Molly and threw her over his shoulder like the 5 year old weighed nothing. She could hear Molly's laugh all the way down until the sound of the surf won out.

"You look so good, both of you," Emma said shyly with relief evident in her voice.

Sarah indicated the 2 chairs side-by-side and Emma grabbed them water from the cooler.

"We're getting there, it's been both the hardest thing ever and remarkably easy. When I first learned that I had fallen in love with Chuck I was shocked, not because Chuck seemed unworthy of that love but because I had never pictured myself in that kind of relationship, a permanent one with a home…" Sarah trailed off when she realized what she said. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Your father and I did not give you any reason to think marriage and family were worth pursuing, that's for sure," Emma frowned.

"Well, Chuck is special, I think you already know that. Even before my memories started coming back I knew it was somehow OK, that I would find my love for him again, one way or another."

"And now?"

"My memories are back and some of them are hard to deal with, too much too fast. But not where Chuck is concerned, that all feels very right."

"Your work was hard Sarah, I don't know all the details, but I know you thought you were doing the right thing."

"Still, I made some difficult choices over the past five years. I did good work, I know that, and the world is safer for what we accomplished, but it wasn't always neat and tidy and I have to make sure Chuck and I are OK with everything we've been through. Especially now," Sarah smiled softly.

"Why especially now?" Emma asked as she sipped her water.

Sarah waited a beat, allowed her mother to finish her drink before she shared her news.

"We're having a baby," Sarah revealed.

"Oh my God, Sarah, really?"

"Really," Sarah nodded and Emma stretched across the sand between them and wrapped her daughter in a hug.

Chuck had just popped up from the surf with Molly on his shoulders as he witnessed the hug, he knew in that moment that Emma had just found out she was going to be a grandmother.

Later as Molly napped, exhausted from frolicking in the ocean for hours, and Sarah read the baby book Chuck had put in the beach bag, Chuck finished a sandwich from the cooler and stood to stretch.

"Feel like taking a walk?" Emma asked her son-in-law.

"Sure. You good here?" Chuck looked at his wife.

"Perfect," she assured.

Chuck leaned down, his torso tanned and somewhat speckled with sand, and kissed her as the floppy sunhat she wore poked him in eye. He reached past her for a t shirt from the bag and pulled it on over his slightly messy ocean hair.

It was the end of the day, well past dinner time and the beach had cleared out considerably. Emma headed off along the water's edge towards a jetty of rocks in the distance.

"This is my favorite time of day at the beach, when the light changes and everything is golden," Emma commented as small birds skittered around their feet looking for dinner.

"It's beautiful," Chuck agreed.

"Congratulations," Emma said quietly.

"Thank you," he nodded, they had all silently agreed not to tell Molly about the baby just yet, so this was Emma's only chance beyond a pointed smile earlier to talk to Chuck.

"When Sarah left Molly with me she was so adamant that Molly get the childhood, the family, that Sarah herself never got. I am so glad you will both get to have that now, with your own child," Emma said resignedly.

"You're here now, you'll be part of this baby's life Emma and through that you and Sarah will get to have the relationship you missed earlier," Chuck assured.

"She's going to need you and Ellie to help her through the parts of motherhood I am going to be clueless to," Chuck admitted with a grin.

Emma nodded, emotional at the idea of having this time with her daughter.

"She's so different," Emma said and Chuck looked up quickly thinking she meant since Quinn, but she continued and he relaxed, "since the day she brought me Molly. She's changed so much because of you."

"People keep saying that, Sarah says that, but I think this is who Sarah was meant to be. I didn't make her smart and kind and strong and loving. I might have helped her to realize those parts of herself, but Sarah is Sarah, I'm just lucky enough to be the person she loves," Chuck shrugged.

TBC…