TheGame26

Sarah called Carina and explained their plans for the morning and asked if they wanted to join them. Carina was out of breath and mumbled 'hell, no' and hung up the phone. Sarah stared at the phone for a moment and then blushed. This made Chuck laugh and he explained that Carina had a thing for 'morning intimacy'.

"How would you know, Chuck?" Her tone was somewhat frosty.

"Um, uh, well, uh, we started out as partners, sharing a room and I had to fight her off for the first week until I aimed her at Casey."

"So, do I have anything to worry about?" She knew Carina and if Chuck said he'd resisted her charms…

"No. It was right after Mira died. I'm not into pity fucking, Sarah." His answer was harsher than she'd expected but she took the implied rebuke in stride. "Sorry. I forgot. We live in the 'Now'. Forgive me?"

"Yeah. Of course." Sarah was sorry, sort of. She'd asked and he'd answered.

"She pulled the same thing in Burbank back when you were still there. She didn't get what she wanted that time, either. She says I'm the 'one that got away'."


The drive into Mobile was quick since there was virtually no traffic. He wondered if the commute would wear on them, especially Sarah with her hip still not totally healed.

"Chuck, in a month I'll be fine, baby. You worry too much. I'm healing and so thankful you are a stubborn son of a bitch and wouldn't give up on us. I wouldn't have come to you, Chuck, if I were still in the chair. I would have ended it first. I had a stash of Vicodin and was planning on taking them all when you sent those doctors. You save my life twice. And I'm so glad."

She didn't know that her 'stash' had been discovered and replaced with ibuprophen. And she'd never know.

They checked into NSA-Mobile and were retina-scanned and then given a diagram of the building, the single NSA floor and the location of the Castle unit assigned to Team Carmichael.

Chuck asked for directions to the armory and was told 'There ain't one, agent. You shooters will find what you need in the unit. Order what you need but don't have through channels.' Chuck's eyes narrowed when he noticed the security guard was more interested in checking out Sarah's breasts then answering questions.

He leaned over the counter and pulled the man to his feet by his tie. "If I find you eyeballing my partner one more time I'll kill you, clear?"

"Y – Yes, Agent. Sorry, I…"

Chuck released the tie and the man fell back into his swivel chair suddenly finding the monitors incredibly interesting. Chuck took Sarah by the arm and led her to the elevators.

"Chuck, you shouldn't have done that, sweetie. It's not big deal. I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me." In truth, she was disgusted by the way the guard had 'undressed' her with his eyes.

"Well, it is a big deal to me and it bothers me. You're not a piece of meat, Sarah. You're my fiancé and I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting you. Understand?" He was pissed and it showed. She'd never really seen this side of Chuck before and it…excited her.

"Yes, Chuck. I understand. Let's find the castle. I have something I need to do."

Chuck keyed in his ID and submitted to a retina scan, as did Sarah. The castle layout was totally different from the Den in L.A. For one thing, it was smaller, had no dormitory suites, only a single detention cell with prison-type bars and no range. It was totally unacceptable and he knew Casey would back him up on it.

He opened up communications with NSA-HQ and reported the castle activation. After confirmation was received electronically, he logged off and turned to Sarah to ask if she was done.

"No, Chuck. I've not even begun." She grabbed his ears and pulled his face down to hers and hungrily attacked his mouth, her tongue dancing over his. She reached down and was fumbling with his belt when he broke off the kiss and grabbed her wrists.

"No, Sarah, not like this. You're not healthy enough and I won't risk hurting you. As much as I want you now, I couldn't risk hurting you. Please, let's just wait until you're hip is healthy. Please?"

Big blue eyes drilled into coffee-brown ones and she smiled and licked her lips and then hugged him. "Chuck, let's go home, baby. I want to strip you naked and cover you with warm chocolate sauce and just indulge in my favorite fantasy…know what it is, baby?" He shook his head. Where had this Sarah come from?

She stood on her tiptoes and ran her tongue around his ear and whispered her secret Chuck fantasy that she'd concocted over the years. His ears turned bright red as did his face and she laughed with delight.


On the way home they passed a strip mall with a huge chain bookstore. On a whim he turned into the lot, parked and dragged her with him. There in the window were displays of his game, SpyGirl and a large screenshot of the heroine and the hero in the hot kiss in front of the bomb.

"Chuck…Chuck…my God, Chuck…that's us. You wrote a game about us?" He couldn't decide whether she was shocked or pissed. He didn't care. He was on a mission to thwart her near-terminal horniness and force, yes, force, her to sublimate. And he had just the thing to do it.

He went in and bought two copies and came out and then dragged her away from the display.

"Chuck, you wrote a computer game about us? What…when…" He loved seeing her sputter. If she were angry, he'd deal with it.

They were passing another mall when she shouted, "Chuck, pull in here!" He did and she directed him to park at the first available spot.

She was sitting upright, still, unmoving. She appeared to have reached a decision and unhooked her seat belt and the crawled across the console and threw herself into his arms. The kiss was incredibly hot, deep and slow, the kind that burned an impression into your mind while it pumped blood to other places…

"I love you, love you, love you." Each punctuated by a kiss the last of which ended with her nibbling at his lower lip.

"Sarah, I'll make you a deal. Score more than 500 points and I'll have sex with you. If you don't score 500 but discover my secret we'll have sex. If you don't, we wait until the doctors give you a clean bill of health AND you can run a mile without being winded before we make love. Fair enough?"

She knew about the computer games he played and would most likely imitate. First-person shooter games.

"Deal. But plan on being my sex toy for the next week or so, Chuck. This will be a snap!" She looked so sure of herself that he didn't have the heart to tease her. It would be bad enough putting up with her shitty mood when she couldn't break 30 points. She'd play like a spy while he wrote it like a man in love with a spy. He resigned himself to a very cranky Sarah in the days and possibly weeks to come.


Evangeline Oaks Gated Community
Fairhope, AL
Sunday

Sarah wanted to run in and run up a score and then get down to some serious bedroom time but Chuck just shook his head and said 'no'. "Sarah, I bought two copies of the game. One is for you and the other is for Carina. Who do you think will get the better score? And who do you think will discover my secret?"

"Not that skank Carina. I'll beat her score and learn your secret, honey, and then I'll buy all the Hershey's Chocolate Sauce in Fairhope and disconnect the phones and double-bolt the door. No one will see us for a week at least."

Chuck gulped audibly and that prompted another round of 'I love you kisses'. They walked over to the Casey's and knocked.

"Carina likes afternoon intimacy, too, so don't be surprised…"

The door flew open and Carina stood there in a robe, hair askew and glowering. "What is it this time, Sarah? It's Sunday. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Carina, I brought you a present and a challenge." He outlined the challenge, leaving out the lovemaking portion, and gave her the game. She snickered at Sarah and said "Game on, Blondie. I'll know his secret and you'll never find out. And I'll beat your score by at least 10%."

While the two bickered, Casey and Chuck walked out to the garage.

"So, tell me about the Den?"

"It's small, no range, no vault, no dorms, the detention cell has bars on it and I'll bet the monitors are black and white. It's unacceptable for what we do, Casey, totally unacceptable." He showed him the floor plan and the diagram of the castle unit.

"Humph. Well, we'll have to see what else Beckman might have up her sleeve. I agree, totally unacceptable. We'll conference Wednesday since we're off until then. Now, what's with you creating competition between the girls? You know this cannot end well, Chuck."

"Yes, it can. You watch. Besides, Sarah and I have a very interesting side bet. To win, she has to totally be physically fit and be able to run a mile to NSA standards. And until then…no fooling around."

"Bartowski, you are a devious mother…"

"It's Carmichael, John, and my mother's dead." He turned and walked away looking for Sarah. He would tame her…to a point. Now if he could just survive the next few weeks.

Sarah practically ran home and pestered Chuck to show her how to load the game and sit with him while she reviewed the instructions and asked some leading questions.

"Sarah, I love you but I'm not cheating. You and Carina are on a level playing field. I'll tell you one thing and one thing only: play with your heart. Now, start at the beginning. Note the opening themes and especially the pre-game intro. I have things to do, sweetie. Let me know when you've won. I'll be upstairs, naked, waiting…don't be too long." He smirked then walked away laughing.

"Laugh all you want, Chuck, but I'll beat this game and be all over you within the hour. Better take a nap, baby, because you're going to need your strength."

She frowned when she heard his laughter. She watched as the game opened and she read the dedication. She got a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes. He'd written this before she'd come back and yet, there it was.

"Dedicated to the three women I've loved:

Sarah
Mira
C.C.

And to all those who man
the watchtowers while we sleep"

She wasn't thrilled with 'C.C.' but knew he meant in the platonic sense. Or so she hoped. She knew Carina and thought she knew Chuck.

The opening scene took her breath away. It was a stylized Sarah as Gigi walking into the E-Mart and asking a nerdy looking Herb to fix her cell phone. The dialogue was almost verbatim and the voice used in the game could have been hers.

She was hooked.