Hello my wonderful readers! How have you been? I finally found time to post this. :P
batmanPN: In regards to your question, Orion himself won't be in this story, however, he is most definitely not forgotten.
Marc Vun Kannon: I've got a few things up my sleeves and a couple of things I've been stewing over every minute of every day.
sevenrez: Oh, shoes will be dropping. Maybe just not quite yet.
charahkids: Just wait. just... you... wait... Seriously... please wait. I don't even know what's gonna happen next I'm halfway through writing the next chapter. :P
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.
"Merry Christmas, Chuck," Sarah said as she handed him his present. He kissed her in response and opened the small box. A smile graced his features as he pulled out the necklace. It had a simple silver chain and a black silver pendant in the shape of a key with the head in the shape of a heart at the very tip of the blade, was a single diamond that added a certain elegance to the necklace. The middle, however, was hollowed out, as though a smaller piece was supposed to fit inside.
"I love it, Sarah," he told her, giving her another kiss.
"That's not even the best part," she said conspiratorially. Chuck shot her a questioning look. As a response, she lifted the charm bracelet he had given her and showed him a charm that he didn't recognize. Sarah took his necklace from him and put the charm on her bracelet into the hole in his. It was a perfect fit. Just like the two of them were.
"And, I love you," he said. He gave her one more kiss and let her put the necklace around his neck. They cuddled together and watched as their friends and family exchanged Christmas gifts.
Although they weren't in Burbank, all of his family and friends were together, celebrating Christmas together. They were all gathered in Chuck and Sarah's suite, dressed in their pajamas, the eggnog being passed around generously. They had just finished exchanging gifts and were getting ready for the Twilight Zone marathon that was about to take place. The only thing they were missing was the fake gas fireplace. They had all they needed though: each other. They were halfway through the first season when Chuck began nibbling on Sarah's ear. "Chuck," she complained. "Your sister is literally five feet away from us. Do you really want to do this now?"
"Well now that you mention it, not anymore." Sarah twisted in her seat and pecked his lips. "But I do want to do this." He pulled out a small velvet pouch, similar to the one he kept the charm bracelet in. At her bewildered look, Chuck chuckled. "You didn't think the bracelet was the only thing I was going to give you, was it?"
"It would have been enough," she argued, careful to not catch anyone else's attention. "Chuck, I don't expect tons of gifts from you, okay?"
"I know, but this is our first Christmas, I want it to be special." He flipped the pouch over and a small silver charm in the shape of a filmstrip with two frames fell out and landed on his palm. In the first frame, 'C+S' was engraved and in the second, a heart.
"Chuck…"
"Shh… You're distracting from the show." Sarah rolled her eyes but lifted her wrist. Chuck attached the charm to her bracelet then kissed her knuckles. Sarah leant into him and turned her attention back to the show. Chuck could feel the smile on her face as he kissed the top of her head before he himself returned to the show and took a swig of his eggnog.
Yup, Christmas with the Bartowskis was, as always, a success.
•-•
"You ready, Chuck?" Devon asked, slapping a hard hand on his back.
"Ah! Uh… Yeah, Awesome, I'm ready," he replied, but his voice held no tone of confidence.
"Oh, Come on, Chuck," Sarah said, tightening her harness. "It's not so bad. I've gone zip lining in Costa Rica and it was so beautiful. You won't even think about the height."
"Right. Of course." Both Sarah and Devon nodded in encouragement. "Why do I have to be the one goaded by the two adrenaline junkies?"
"Because everyone else already went," Sarah reasoned. Chuck sighed.
"Alright." He stepped forward and the worker strapped his harness to the line.
"Remember, Chuck. Just focus on the view," Sarah reassured. He nodded and jumped, zipping down the wire.
"Aaaaahhh! Aaahh! Ahh! Ah… Oh… oh, wow," Chuck blinked, looking around at the forest below him. The trees were the greenest he'd ever seen and the sounds of the animals and birds both terrified him and calmed him. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen. This was nature at its best. Once he saw the view, the fact that he was over a hundred feet off the ground with his life depending on a wire and a harness dissolved from his thoughts. "Oh, my gosh, it's beautiful! Oh, my… Wooooo!"
Sadly, all too soon, Chuck reached the end of the wire and was dismounted. He stood with the rest of the group for Sarah and Devon. Sure enough, not two minutes later, Sarah came zipping down the line, cheering. He smiled. The only thing more beautiful than the view he'd just seen was Sarah, especially when her face was lit up with pure joy like it was right then. Although, she did have a sort of wild look in her eye due to the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Once she was dismounted, she went up to Chuck and gave him a hug and a kiss. They then watched as Devon zipped down, cheering as well. "Man!" the blonde cardio-thoracic surgeon said. "That was Awesome! What a rush! Where's the next line?"
"Just up there," the guide said, pointing to the well-worn trail further up the mountain. Seeing how much further up they were going, Chuck paled.
"Don't freak out," he muttered to himself before following the rest of the group up the path.
•-•
"Jump!" Chuck called out. Everyone was already in the water with their snorkeling gear on. Everyone except Morgan, that is.
"You know, on second thought, I think I like it here on dry land, you know? No chance of being devoured by piranhas or sharks."
"Buddy, the only Piranha in the water is me," Chuck joked, referring to his old hacker name.
"Yeah, Morgan, nothing is gonna hurt you down here," Alex reasoned.
"Alright. I'm diving in." The short bearded man adjusted the snorkel mask over his face and jumped. When he surfaced, he started kicking and flailing his arms. Casey came up behind him and held on to the back of Morgan's life vest.
"Calm down, Moron," he growled. "Even if you couldn't swim, this life vest will do its job and save your life." Morgan calmed down significantly after that and the seven of them were able to enjoy the aquatic life that surrounded them. Chuck had gotten a ton of pictures of Sarah on his phone thanks to the new waterproof case he'd bought. He'd taken plenty of her – and them together – since their vacation started. He figured it was time to stalk up. They wouldn't be seeing much of one another for another three or so months so he wanted to make every moment they had together count and still have some left over to keep him from going into Sarah withdrawal.
But, in between taking pictures of Sarah – both obviously and furtively – Chuck actually enjoyed seeing all of the different species of fish that swam around them. They'd even managed to find a stingray, swimming around on the floor. And, while everyone was spending time trying to see if they could spot a lobster, Chuck was too busy trying to find the different species of fish from Finding Nemo. Call him childish, sure, but he loved that movie.
After their underwater adventure, the group decided to have lunch at a nearby café. "God, it was so beautiful down there," Sarah gushed as she took a bite from her burger.
"I know," Ellie sighed. "Though, I couldn't help but think about that movie, Finding Nemo."
"So I wasn't the only one," Chuck chimed in, glad that he wasn't the only adult child in the group. "I mean, the entire way I was thinking about P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. Even though we're in Brisbane."
Sarah rolled her eyes at the siblings, to which Chuck responded with a grin and a kiss. They finished their lunch and returned to the Escalade, ready for their next adventure.
"So what do we do now?" Alex asked once they were on the road.
"We're not too far from the hotel so why don't we head back to take proper showers and then we can go sight-seeing around the city?" Chuck offered.
"That's a great idea, Chuckster. Awesome!" Devon agreed. When they reached the hotel, everyone went their separate ways toward their rooms to get ready for the second half of the day. Sarah decided that a hot bath was in order to relax her muscles, but Chuck settled for a hot shower. Let it be noted, however, that his extremely persuasive girlfriend tried to get him to join her, but, being him, he wanted to make sure they had something planned. So, he actually took a very cold shower and immediately began doing research once out.
Once everyone was gathered again in the lobby of the Emporium Hotel, Chuck spoke up. "I found an afternoon tour of the city that goes up to Mount Coot-tha."
"That's… Outstanding!" Devon smiled, raising a hand for a high five. Chuck awkwardly slapped his hand against his future brother-in-law's, caught off guard by the Captain's word choice.
"Yeah… well..." Chuck continued. "A shuttle is coming to pick us up in five minutes."
"Great!" Morgan cheered.
•-•
"How are you so good at this?" Chuck asked as he resurfaced. He was exhausted. He'd probably inhaled more seawater than drank it.
"Chuck, you live in Los Angeles, same as me. How can you not know how to surf?" Sarah laughed. She was perched on top of her surfboard. Chuck clambered back onto his own board, nearly toppling over the other side, eliciting another laugh from his surprisingly, yet not surprisingly, sporty girlfriend. He'd wiped out every time he simply tried to stand up on the board. Sarah on the other hand, was a natural. But apparently, she surfed all the time back home.
"It's because he opted to play in the sand with Morgan whenever we went to the beach," Ellie joined in, sitting up on her board after paddling over to them. Sarah raised a questioning eyebrow at her boyfriend.
"What?" he shrugged. "I liked digging." Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Chuck, I'm making it my mission to teach you how to surf before we leave today," she promised. "By the end of the day, you will have surfed at least one wave without wiping out."
"Good luck with that," Chuck joked.
"Don't sell yourself short, little brother," Ellie comforted. "I know you can do anything you set your mind to." The elder Bartowski sibling laid back down on her board, paddling away toward the wave that was building up in front of them. Apparently, Sarah wanted to take a crack at it.
"Yeah, Chuck. After this wave, I'll teach you how to surf." The actress began paddling, giving Chuck a nice view of her round butt. When she'd announced that morning that she wanted to go to the beach, Chuck had been excited to see her in her bikini. He wasn't, however, expecting her to be wearing a rash guard over said bikini, blocking his view of her body.
Instead, Chuck simply watched as his girlfriend joined his sister on the wave, both skillfully riding it back to the shore. "Oh yeah! Awesome!" Devon called from the shore. The blonde surgeon had decided to work on his tan before hitting the waves, stating that it would lessen the chance of him getting sunburnt.
Soon enough, Ellie decided to call it quits and joined Alex on the blankets to tan. Sarah, however, returned to his side, ready and determined to teach him how to surf.
In the end, it took three hours for Sarah to get Chuck balanced enough to stand up on the board and another two to keep him balanced enough to ride the wave without wiping out. When he finally did it, his wonderful teacher and girlfriend, along with everyone else on the beach cheered for his success. The sight made him smile. Once the wave faded, he paddled the rest of the way to Sarah and pulled her in for a hug and a kiss. "You did it!" she said once they pulled away, pride clearly in her voice. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Well, I did have an amazing teacher," he smirked. She shot him a similar look and hugged him again.
"A teacher is only as good as her student's willingness to learn."
"Hey lovebirds!" Morgan called, interrupting Chuck from making a probably not-so-witty comeback. When they looked over, the whole group was sitting around an unlit fire pit. Sunset was minutes away and they were planning on having a campfire with songs and s'mores. Chuck had bought a backpacker guitar recently that made travel easy because of its small size and light weight.
Casey was already fitting the pit to be lit when Chuck and Sarah joined them. The couple took their spot on a log and Morgan handed Chuck his guitar. By that point, Chuck was already dried off and had a T-shirt on. The musician tuned his guitar while they waited.
At sunset, Casey lit the fire and the s'mores ingredients were rationed out. They enjoyed their snack and told jokes, not quite ready for songs just yet. "I'm serious!" Devon exclaimed. "I've got an awesome Australian accent." Ellie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah? Let's hear it," Morgan challenged.
"Crikey! These s'mores ahhre the bist thing Oi've hed seence Casey's buhgehrs." Everyone laughed at how hard the Captain was trying yet failing.
"You wanna hear an Australian accent?" Chuck smirked, eyeing Sarah. "Go ahead, baby."
"Well, what do you want me to say?" she asked him, slipping flawlessly into the accent.
"Whatever you want to say."
"Well, I guess I'll just say that in a short amount of time, Chuck has become a ripper grommet.* To celebrate, we should all share a slab,"* she said, not skipping a beat, even using common Australian phrases.
"I'll toast to that!" Casey grunted. He opened the cooler and pulled out a 24-pack of beer.
"Wow, Sarah," Ellie marveled. "What other accents can you do?"
"Quite a few, actually," the blonde said, reverting back to her regular voice. "I do a good Texan accent. I can also do New York, New Jersey, ditsy co-ed, northwestern American, English, Scottish, French, Polish, and Russian. Oh! And I also speak Spanish, French, Russian, and Polish."
"Quite a few," Ellie rolled her eyes. "Sure."
"A lot of people don't know this but I actually graduated from UCLA as a double major in drama and international studies."
"That's so awesome!"
"Isn't it?" Chuck bragged. He kissed Sarah on the cheek and prepared another s'more.
•-•
"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!" Everyone started hugging each other and greeting others a happy New Year. The group was currently at a club in Brisbane, celebrating the New Year with the citizens of the city. Morgan was a little miffed that he didn't get to ring in the New Year with the New York Ball Drop like they did every year but the fact that they were in Australia and experienced the New Year an entire day before the United States, well, it just wasn't physically possible.
"Happy New Year, Chuck," Sarah greeted.
"Happy New Year, Sarah," Chuck replied. He pulled her in close and kissed her. They held each other and watched the fireworks together. Chuck looked over his girlfriend's head and saw that Ellie and Awesome, and Morgan and Alex were doing the same thing. Even Casey, who convinced Verbanski, Chuck's head of security for the tour, to be his date, was cuddled up with the woman. Chuck didn't think the man had a seductive bone in his body, yet there he was.
I guess there really is someone out there for everyone, he thought. Chuck smiled and kissed the top of Sarah's head. All was right in his world. And though he and Sarah were going their separate ways in a few days, with her back to her movie and him back to finish his tour, he knew that their relationship was going to be stronger than ever, especially since they spent the past two weeks by each other's side.
In the time they spent, they'd learned more about each other than ever before. Now, they were more than just boyfriend and girlfriend. They were best friends. Their relationship has never been stronger and he was happy that he was going into the new year with a relationship as strong as theirs. He felt that they could handle anything that life through at them.
"Man," Morgan said, coming up to the couple. "Can you believe that it's still 2008 in America? It's so wack."
"I know, right?" Chuck agreed. "If we flew back now, we'd still be able to celebrate the ball drop." Morgan shook his head.
"Nah. I can just find it online or something. I only ever liked the performances, you know? I always thought that you would get to perform in Time Square on New Year's Eve."
"Maybe next year, Buddy." Chuck patted his best friend on the back.
"Are you kidding me? You're already booked," the bearded manager joked.
"You two look like you're heading out," Sarah noticed.
"Yeah. We're gonna head back to the hotel for some celebration," Morgan winked. Alex, on the other hand, turned bright pink.
"Huh. Maybe we'll follow in your footsteps," Chuck quipped. The shorter couple left the club hand in hand and Sarah turned to her boyfriend.
"You do realize that if we leave, we'll have to let Casey and Verbanski know, right?" she asked.
Chuck sighed in response. The pains of fame. "Yes, honey. I do." Just as they were about to head over to a more secluded area of the club, their cover was blown.
"Hey, you're Charles Carmichael!" a club-goer shouted.
"And that's Sarah Walker!" another joined in.
"Oh boy," Chuck yelped. Sarah was simply frozen at his side. They'd gone all night without someone noticing them and right when they decided they were going to hide themselves away, someone decided that they looked familiar.
"Great," Sarah muttered.
Immediately, Casey and Verbanski were by their sides, leading them out of the club. "Wait!" Chuck remembered. "What about Ellie and Awesome?"
"They're already making their way out. You two are our top priorities," Casey explained.
"Yeah," Verbanski added. "And this crowd is starting to catch on to who you two are. It's not like you're wearing disguises or anything."
"Where are Morgan and Alex?" Casey asked. Chuck's eyes went wide and he shot a look at Sarah.
"Uh… They're already gone."
"What?" he barked.
"They left for the hotel five minutes ago," Chuck explained. Casey growled and hurried them along.
"I'm gonna kill the gnome."
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
"Bye, sis, Devon," Chuck hugged Ellie and Devon. They were currently at the airport where The Awesomes and Alex were to fly back to Los Angeles. Alex was currently saying goodbye to Morgan and her father. Sarah stepped forward and hugged Ellie.
"I'll see you when I get back to Los Angeles," she said. The elder Bartowski smiled.
"I'm counting on it." She snuck a peek at Devon and Chuck who were in the middle of their own conversation. "It was great to spend some time together and get to know each other, Sarah. I've always wanted a sister and now, I have one."
"Me, too," Sarah smiled. "The closest I've ever gotten was Carina but there are just some things I can't tell her like I can tell you." Ellie smiled once more before pulling the blonde into a tight hug. It was true. Growing up, Sarah never had anyone to talk to about what she was going through or how she was feeling but now, she had Chuck and Ellie, and even Alex. She was happy that she had someone to comfortably talk to.
"Well, know that you don't have to wait until you get back to Los Angeles to talk to me," the brunette said. "Call me anytime."
"I will." Ellie stepped away to bid Morgan goodbye and Alex stepped up to her. "Bye, Alex."
"Bye, Sarah." They hugged. "Listen, I know it's my dad's job to protect you, but please look after him."
Sarah chuckled. "I will."
"Thank you." They hugged once more and Alex joined Ellie and Devon before the trio headed off to the security checkpoint.
Once they had disappeared, the rest of the group made their way out of the terminal and onto the tarmac for private jets. Verbanski was there, standing by the jet. When they got close, Sarah hugged Morgan goodbye and her boyfriend's best friend climbed into the plane. "This is it," she said turning to the nerdy musician.
Chuck cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Sarah sighed. "This is where we say goodbye."
Her boyfriend frowned. "No it's not," he said. "Sarah, we're not saying goodbye. Just… 'See you later.' Alright?"
Sarah nodded. "This isn't a goodbye."
He kissed her and hugged her, holding her tight. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Chuck." He kissed her once more before joining Morgan on the plane.
It wasn't the end. Sarah knew that, but the possibility of her not seeing Chuck in person over the next three months was pretty depressing. Instead, she just smiled and waved, stepping back toward the safety zone with Casey. She could see him smiling back at her through the window of the jet.
When the plane finally took off, Sarah tuned to Casey. "It'll be fine," he said. "Don't go soft on me just yet, Walker. You still have some ass to kick on set." With that, he turned with a grunt and started walking back to the car. Sarah rolled her eyes and followed.
•-•
Four Months Later
"So, we're here, hanging out with the Sarah Walker and Daniel Shaw," Kinsey Schofield, the Young Hollywood interviewer.
"Hi," Sarah greeted.
"Thanks for having us," Daniel smiled.
"So, you two are starring in the new film Phase Three," Kinsey said. "And I hear you guys filmed it all the way in Australia."
"We are," Sarah said.
"And we did," Daniel added.
"What was that like?"
"It was amazing," she gushed. "There was so much wildlife and nature and I've always loved environmental things so it was great to be around it almost twenty-four seven."
"It sounds like it's beautiful."
"It was."
"What was filming like?"
"It was super intense," Sarah said.
"Well, for you," Daniel laughed. "I just laid in a chair for most of my scenes." He turned to the interviewer. "But, I can say that I have a newfound respect for Sarah here. She did most of her own stunts for the movie. It was very impressive."
"No… It's nothing special."
"She only says that because she does her own stunts for her other movies as well." Sarah rolled her eyes again. Though, whether for show or because Daniel was starting to get annoying, she didn't know. She did make it look like it was for the former, however.
"Do you?" Kinsey asked.
"I do."
"That's so great. So, what can you tell us about the movie?" she asked.
"Well, basically, our characters are a spy couple. Then, a mission goes wrong and Daniel's character gets taken. I have to go save him."
"Wow. And what is your favorite thing about your character?"
"I have to say that my favorite thing about Brian is that while he can definitely handle himself, he's better with Jenny and he's not afraid to admit it," Daniel said. It was most probably a rehearsed statement that he and his publicist came up with. Throughout the entire time filming, he'd been complaining that his character didn't really do anything.
"For me, Jenny is very interesting character. She can be both strong and vulnerable at same time. She's got so many layers that are so much fun to portray. And, after the movie, instead of feeling like you've known her for only two and a half hours, it feels like you were there with her as she goes through this transformation and story." Sarah smiled.
"Well, that's all the time we have," Kinsey announced. "Thank you both so much for coming. Everyone here at Young Hollywood wishes you two the best."
"Thank you," Daniel smiled.
"And thank you for having us," Sarah added. The trio smiled at the camera once more before being giving the 'okay' signal. Immediately, Daniel stood and headed toward his vanity station. Sarah stood from the couch and was immediately met by Chuck. "Hey," the actress greeted. "You made it! When did you get here?"
"Like… just now," the musician responded. "Sorry. The studio sessions are getting intense and traffic was terrible, as always."
"It's okay," she assured. She kissed him before taking his hand and leading him to her own vanity station. He was silent as she gathered her things, probably not wanting to start some kind of scene with Daniel who was watching them with a strange look in his eyes. Sarah decided to ignore the look and zipped up her bag. "You ready to go?"
Chuck nodded, taking the bag from her. "Ellie and Awesome are waiting for us at the restaurant."
"Great." As they walked out of the studio, her boyfriend slung an arm around her shoulders.
"It's so fantastic to have you back," he said. "I don't care if we still have to fight to see each other. At least we're in the same city and have the option to fight to see each other." Sarah simply smiled in response; Chuck always had a way of saying just the right thing to make her speechless. "When's your next appearance?"
"Uh… two days. I'm doing The Ellen Show and then Jimmy Kimmel later that night."
"So you're free tomorrow," Chuck said hopefully, tossing Sarah's duffle bag into his trunk and then unlocking it so they could climb in.
"Not exactly." Sarah bit her lip. "I've got a photo shoot for most of the day tomorrow."
"Well, I guess it isn't all bad," Chuck tried to reason. "I mean, you're coming to dinner with me and spending the night so… we do get to spend some time together."
Sarah reached over the console and took her boyfriend's hand in hers. "I promise you. My schedule will open right up after the premiere."
"That's four months from now, Sarah."
"I know, it's terrible but this is what we signed up for, right? We knew that doing this would bring challenges."
"I know," Chuck sighed. "You probably want me to stop complaining like a child, huh?"
Sarah smirked. "A little. But you're cute when you pout."
"Yeah, whatever. We're here." He pulled into a parking spot and Sarah waited until Chuck came around and opened her door for her. She had no problem doing it herself and had even insisted on it on multiple occasions. However, Chuck was having none of it. He apparently loved doing the little things for her and if it made him happy, then she was happy.
"Thank you," she smiled. She looped her arm around his and together, they walked into the restaurant where the Awesomes were waiting.
Some Australian slang for you (and to my aussie readers, please, please, please correct me if I'm wrong I'm going off of what the Internet said. I have no idea if I'm using these right.):
*Ripper: really great
*Grommet: young surfer
*Slab: 24-pack of beer
Sorry for the filler chapter. I know that a lot of you guys really wanted to see what the gang did on their vacation so I picked a few key moments. Then, I said... what the hell, let's get a move on with the story!
So... for those of you who actually read my author's notes, I'm gonna tell you now. This story is almost over. I've finally pinpointed the perfect ending for this story and we're actually pretty close to it. There's about two or three chapters left plus an epilogue.
Don't worry. No one is losing their memories. Just thought I had to add that in there.
If there are any storylines that I've left open, please pm me or drop a review. With everything going on, I tend to forget about some things. I'm not perfect. So please. Let me know. Just be like, "Yo Fluffy! Whatever happened to _?" and I'll take care of it. Thanks!
My dad just finished Chuck and he was so sad over the ending.
Anyways...
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Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!