A/N: Yes, I know it's Chuck Me Monday, not Chuck Me Wednesday. But I'll have to double up a few times to get done before Season 3 starts, and the Cole arc seemed like a good chance to do that and get two episodes I'm not too fond of out of the way at the same time.

Because there wasn't enough angst for me in this episode, I figured I'd do one of those compare and contrast things that teachers assigned you in middle school. So here's a scene that pairs off with Chuck and Sarah waking up at the beginning of the episode.

Housekeeping note: The race for the #2 spot in the "What should I write next?" poll is very close. And since I'm planning to do two things... you should definitely vote and break the near-tie.

I don't own Chuck. I have a stockpile of moderately clever ways to say that, but I'm saving those for my full-length stories...


Chapter 29: Awesome vs. the Lethal Weapon

Devon was sleeping soundly (and snoring lightly) when Ellie's alarm jerked him rudely awake. His fiancée uttered a muffled curse as she rolled over to turn it off, then turned toward him with a sultry smile that said her bad mood had immediately disappeared.

"Morning, Devon. How'd you sleep?"

Casting an appreciative glance over the half of his bedmate that had emerged from beneath the sheet, Devon grinned. "Not nearly as well as I woke up."

Ellie laughed. "Sorry, but no time for that this morning. Shift starts in just over an hour."

Devon shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Any morning when I wake up next to you is guaranteed to be just about ideal."

Ellie beamed at him. "You want the shower first?"

"I'm good," he replied, gladly taking the opportunity to watch her walk out of the room. No matter how often he saw it, Devon always marveled at how amazing Ellie looked just after waking up in a simple T-shirt and underwear. He craned his neck uncomfortably to maintain the view for as long as possible before conceding defeat to the geometry of the apartment's master bathroom. Sighing happily, he stood from the bed and headed toward the kitchen to prepare the morning pot of coffee.

He pulled up short in the hallway as Sarah emerged from Chuck's room, her attire nearly identical to Ellie's. Nodding a friendly greeting, he let her pass into the bathroom before resuming his caffeine-motivated journey. The percolating water in the coffee maker mixed with the twinned sounds of the apartment's shower heads in a soothing morning medley, and Devon allowed himself to lean against the counter and relax into a pleasant reverie that remained uninterrupted until Chuck joined him in the kitchen.

"Hey, Devon," the younger man said.

"Morning, Chuck," the surgeon replied placidly. "Good one, too, if I'm not mistaken," he added with a raised eyebrow in the direction of the bathroom wall.

"I've had worse," Chuck confirmed with a strained smile.

"You know, with all the effort they put into dressing up, sometimes I don't think women know what they do to us just after they roll out of bed," Devon mused.

Chuck barked out a surprisingly harsh laugh. "Tell me about it."

"Seriously, bro, major congrats on the new living arrangements. I gotta tell you, there's nothing like waking up every morning lying next to a beautiful girl who you're absolutely crazy about. It's absolutely…"

"Awesome?" Chuck cut him off.

Devon chuckled. "Pretty much. It's an incomparable experience."

Chuck sighed in what Devon assumed was contentment. "Yeah."