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Making New Friends

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah had to admit. The evening was going a lot better than she expected so far. Maybe this 'making normal friends' thing wasn't so bad after all. She hadn't even caught Joey checking out Chuck's ass once. Of course she had no way of knowing that Josh and Joey had given each other firm pep talks in their room about staying professional and keeping their respective eyes, and their mitts, off of Chuck until they had won Sarah's confidence. After all, this was an assignment.

The meal was simply exquisite. Lobster was Sarah's favorite anyway. And the ones they were served were humongous. Naturally, all of the accompaniments were just as fabulous, including Sarah's beloved twice baked potato. Of course that's what you would expect from such a high-end five star restaurant, right?

The conversation was, perhaps not exquisite, but also not half bad. It turned out that off the volleyball court Josh and Joey could be quite charming, even funny. And with Chuck by her side taking care of being funny enough for both of them, Sarah just had to laugh at the appropriate times, relax, and enjoy herself.

And she did find that she was enjoying herself. Sarah's original plan was to, perhaps not rush through dinner but certainly not to dawdle over it, and then excuse themselves for some alone time discovering what else the poster bed in their room had to offer besides a place to take a nap. But when Josh suggested that they go dancing for a while, well that was hard for Sarah to say no to. Chuck perhaps wasn't quite as enthusiastic, but he loved to see Sarah have fun.

And even he finally had to admit. He was having fun as well. It wasn't unusual to expect Sarah to be in her element on the dance floor. But tonight was amazing. Sarah Bartowski no longer had any reason to hold anything back. It was hard to look at her face and see the pure joy being displayed there without it making him feel great. Well, that may not have been totally accurate. It wasn't hard, it was impossible. She loosened up so much that she even insisted that he dance with Joey… once.

And actually Sarah and Joey were hitting it off. It felt so great to have a normal girlfriend. For rather obvious reasons, neither Laura nor Carina could really qualify as normal. Ellie was the closest thing Sarah had ever had to a normal friend, but she was thousands of miles away. Not only was Joey fun to be around, she was great to dance with when the guys needed breaks. And as an added bonus, she was proving to be just as competitive as Sarah was… and that was saying something.

In fact, Joey's eyes were gleaming when they finally got back to their table to rejoin the guys for a much needed break. "You have to give me a chance to get even for this volleyball embarrassment," she said, shouting to be heard over the wild beat of the music.

Sarah wasn't in a mood to back down from anybody. "What do you have in mind?" she shouted with her own grin firmly in place.

Joey motioned to the waitress. "Simple," she said. "We each line up five shots of tequila. Last one finished loses."

It maybe wasn't volleyball, but drinking shots was another of Sarah's talents. "What are we betting?" she asked with a grin.

Joey grinned back. "Sex," she said. Off Sarah's surprised look, she continued as her grin got even bigger. "The loser has to sit on her husband's lap right here and make out with him for five minutes with no limits on where he puts his hands. And then when they're back up in the room later…" Joey leaned in to whisper the last part of the bet into her ear.

Sarah looked around the room. They were in perhaps the honeymoon capital of the world. There were clearly many newlywed couples here. And there was more than a little necking currently taking place at several tables, some of it clearly rounding second base. But she didn't want to agree to any bet that could affect Chuck without his okay. She knew that he was fairly sensitive to PDA. And she was positive that he wouldn't feel her up here in public. So she was a tad surprised that when she glanced over at him, his calm smile and shrug again told her that this was her decision.

"Chicken," Joey asked with an even broader grin, knowing full well that was a hot button.

"You're on," Sarah said with her own grin. "With you already buying the drinks tonight, this is a bet I can't possibly lose. Even if I come in second, I win."

When Josh leaned over to playfully whisper something into his 'wife's' ear, she was grinning broadly. But when he was finished, she was giggling uncontrollably at his mostly tongue in cheek warning.

"You'd better fucking win. If I'm forced to make out with you, you're going home without your bra."

x-x-x-x-x

Joan took a deep soothing breath just before she knocked on the door. It was an odd feeling. To say that she was looking forward to this would be way too much of an overstatement. But the truth was there was also a definite tingle in her stomach, or if she were to be totally honest, about a foot lower.

Intellectually, Joan knew what the feeling was. She had taken enough psychology classes at Duke to understand the thrill of the adventure of meaningless sex without guilt. She was about to play a role, live with no consequences, break out of the rules of conduct she had established for herself.

That started with her clothes. Bryce insisted that she dress in a very specific way. He called it the seduction uniform. The shear white blouse that he instructed her to go out and buy at lunch was something that she never would have normally worn in public. It very clearly showed the outline of her chest.

But she also recognized that the main reason she was excited had nothing to do with the psychology classes. She was doing something for her new boyfriend. She was going to fuck this guy for him. She was going to get to use him in any way she saw fit while pretending he was Bryce. And for the first time in her life, she was going to be able to enjoy herself with some cheap sex without any guilt.

After all, this guy didn't deserve any empathy. An old fart who was just looking to get laid, any way he could… by someone just a little over half his age. How disgusting, pathetic, perverted, even sick was that? She would have to work hard to not allow that disgust to show. After all, that would defeat the purpose, right?

But all those harsh thoughts popped like a water balloon hitting the pavement as soon as he opened the door.

He wasn't anything like Joan was expecting. For one thing, he didn't look all that old. He could easily pass for forty, well early forties anyway. And since she looked older when she wanted to, they could pass for a couple with no problem. But that wasn't the main reason. Joan looked into his eyes and saw something there. And in fairness, the eyes were the first thing that she noticed about Bryce as well. But there was no comparing Bryce to Steven, in fact they were exact opposites. Where Bryce's eyes were electric beacons that pierced through you and made you feel vulnerable and naked, Steven's eyes were like huge pools that simply made you feel comfortable, eyes you could get lost in, eyes that instantly told you that this was someone you could trust.

Joan was stuck looking into his eyes for so long that the silence was becoming noticeable. So she stuck out her hand. "Hi, Steven," she said with a smile that was suddenly genuine. "I'm Joan. It's nice to meet you."

Then he did it. He smiled at her, that bashful smile. Sure he was nervous, probably couldn't remember the last time he had been on a date. But it was completely disarming. "It's nice to meet you too, Joan," was all he said… with words anyway.

She was staring at him for so long that it was again becoming noticeable. Finally she broke the silence. "Are you ready?" she asked. "I have a cab waiting." Joan quickly realized that her 'assignment' had just gotten a whole lot tougher. He had said a grand total of seven words to her so far. But she already knew that there was simply no way to throw her body at and fuck into submission this nice guy while pretending that he was Bryce Larkin. No way.

Fortunately he quickly let her off the hook. "I'm sorry that I'm being so quiet," he said as soon as they were comfortably in the cab. "It's just… Joan, I have to admit that I'm a little taken aback. I honestly wasn't expecting you to be so beautiful. It's pretty intimidating."

Joan perhaps wasn't very experienced at this sort of thing. But even she realized with another guy, in another place, that would have been a clichéd pickup line designed to separate her from her panties sometime later in the evening. But by some sense she also recognized that there was nothing fake here, he honestly meant it. She could feel the red rising up her neck. For some reason that those psychology classes at Duke couldn't begin to explain, it felt wonderful. Joan was frankly surprised at how great that throw away compliment made her feel. "Thanks," she said. "That's sweet of you to say. There is no reason to be intimidated. You're looking very dapper as well." She also meant it. His shirt and tie were perhaps a little more casual than the seduction uniform she was wearing. But they looked totally the part of a couple out for a first dinner date.

"Look," Steven said, clearly keeping his voice low so the driver wouldn't be able to hear. "I don't quite know how to say this. I understand what Bryce told me about tonight. I just want you to know that I don't expect… um, anything. I'm… Joan, I'm just not that guy. I hope you're not offended."

Not that he needed it, but Steven Bartowski's stock had just risen about a gazillion points. His bashful rambling was so cute. Suddenly she was embarrassed. This nice sweet man thought that she was here on basically an assignment to repeatedly fuck him senseless. Why wouldn't he? Ten minutes ago it would have been the truth. That's clearly the picture that Bryce had painted for him. He thought that she was a slut, maybe even a pro; probably assumed that she did this sort of thing all the time.

It wouldn't be appropriate here in the cab, but she made a mental note to make sure that she corrected the record sometime during the evening. "Don't worry, Steven," she said as she touched his arm. "I'm not offended at all. We're going to dinner. Let's just have fun and see where the evening takes us without any expectations getting in the way, okay?"

Steven nodded.

"Besides," Joan continued, suddenly struck by the ridiculousness of the current conversation. "The nicer restaurants actually frown on that sort of thing."

She probably couldn't have said anything better to get him over being nervous. It got them both laughing and totally broke the tension. "You know what?" he said in mock seriousness. "It's been a long time, but I do think that I remember something about that."

That got them laughing even harder. Suddenly for the first time, Joan was honestly looking forward to tonight more than she ever though possible.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah finally stumbled into their room, lips firmly attached to each other. Both were feeling very little pain. Chuck could feel the definite buzz from the many drinks they had tipped up all evening but it was magnified by the taste of tequila from her mouth during the making out session in the club. Sarah was perhaps a little more accustomed to handling her liquor than he was, but she had matched him drink for drink all night and had five shots of tequila on top.

"Tell me the truth," Chuck said with a grin as the latest long kiss broke and they fell unto the bed. "You lost on purpose, right?"

For some reason that even she couldn't explain, that struck Sarah as funny. So all she could do was shake her head in the negative for a long time. "That girl can really drink," she was finally able to stop giggling long enough to get out. "You didn't seem to be complaining during the make out session." In fact he surprised her. Not only did he fully participate with the tongues dancing with gusto, his palm actually made contact with her breast more than once.

"Hey, you lost," Chuck said. "Don't bet things that you're not willing to lose. Besides, if I ever complain about making out with you, get a DNA sample and run tests. Someone has taken over my body."

Again, for some reason that struck Sarah as hilariously funny. "I know just how to get the sample," she said as she ran her hand suggestively up the inside of his thigh until she was tugging at his zipper. "Besides, who said anything about not being willing to lose?"

Chuck could only sit on the bed and watch her giggle helplessly. "Speaking of losing, are you going to tell me what the other part of the bet was?" he finally was able to ask.

"That's the best part," Sarah was finally able to get out. "The loser can't use the missionary position for the whole night. She figured that would force us into some, umm, alternative activities. The joke's on her. Now I have an excuse to try some new things." Of course she didn't realize that Joey wasn't about to use the missionary position tonight either, for an entirely different reason, but still.

"Josh wants us to go with them tomorrow," Chuck said to change the subject and get out of her teasing gloat more than anything. "They rented a car. They heard about a private beach about an hour's drive away. There's also some jungle to explore."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him I'd talk to you," Chuck said. "I know that you were looking forward to a lot of alone time for these two weeks."

"I think it would be okay," Sarah said. "We're going to have plenty of time to be alone. So as long as it's something that you want to do, I'm fine with it. I mean we're going to the beach anyway, right? We might as well go to a more private one. And we do get along with them, don't we?"

Chuck was more than a little surprised at her agreement. "They're nice enough," he said. "I'm glad that you made a friend. I think that's healthy."

Suddenly Sarah sounded a lot more sober. "Do you think that she's pretty?" she asked.

Chuck thought for a moment on how to answer her. She was pretty drunk so she might not hear him properly. And this was important that she understand. He decided on the absolute truth. "Of course I think she's pretty," he said. "She is more than pretty… until she is standing next to you. Compared to the most beautiful woman in the whole world she looks sorta plain."

That got back the grin. "Wow," she said. "Mr. Bartowski, I simply have to tell you something. If I only had a dollar for every time I've heard a pickup line from a man who thought he was smooth and was trying to get me naked. They always struck out… until now. That one just got you lucky."

Chuck just laughed. "Um," he said. "It's probably not so impressive. I think I could have read some names out of the phone book as my pickup line and still got lucky tonight."

"Okay," she said with a grin. "You called me on that one." Sarah pressed her lips to his once again. She still tasted like tequila.

"You're absolutely right."

x-x-x-x-x

Joan knew that she was dreaming. It was like floating on a cloud, warm and safe. When she finally decided to open her eyes, she found herself lying in a strange bed. She was on top of the covers still fully clothed. A comforter was pulled up to neck.

When she sat up, full memory came rushing back. She must have fallen asleep on him, probably in mid sentence. He must think that I'm a wimp. She plopped back down on the bed as she ran through the events of the magical evening in her mind. They had such a great time at dinner. As it turned out, once he was comfortable, Steven was simply the funniest man she had ever met. He kept her laughing all night. It was something that she discovered was missing from her life, the pure joy of laughing.

After dinner they went back to his place. He was a master engineer and inventor and she was an engineer and research scientist. So predictably the conversation quickly turned to their main mutual passion. At first, by unspoken agreement, they avoided the topic of the Intersect. He told her the amazing story of how Ted Roark stole his plans when they were roommates in college and made billions off of them. He pulled out some of his old specs and they went over them. He was clearly happy to have someone to talk to who was genuinely interested in this stuff. She hoped that he wouldn't take offense when she gently pointed out some areas that might be improved. Fortunately, instead of taking offense, she must have impressed him. Because it wasn't very long at all before he pulled out the binders that contained the specs for his version of the intersect.

She knew from Bryce that he had a fair amount of resentment towards the CIA. So she spent a fair amount of time assuring him. Yes, she worked for the CIA. Yes, it was possible that she would learn something from him that might help her, and hence them. But she wasn't an agent, had the same concerns about using their research as a weapon that he did, was just as in love with the science as he was, and respected it as much as he did. She promised him that she would never mention him at work.

Steven listened to her rant patiently. Then he flashed her that smile, the one that said she had just wasted her breath and that he had already decided he could trust her. Then he pointed to a problem area in the specs.

That part was simply fascinating. Of course there were some parts of the design that she recognized. But there were other parts that were totally new to her. The data architecture was totally different. In fact they had a bit of, not really an argument, but an animated discussion about it. It didn't take long at all for her to realize that Steven Bartowski was easily the smartest person she had ever met. But even when they were arguing she could see something in this man that made him different than anybody else. He was certainly passionate about this. He often thought that he was right, and he often was. But he wasn't a bit defensive. He always listened to her argument. And when he realized she was right, he said so with zero reservation.

Joan quickly realized that she was having fun, even more than fun. Sure, most people would look at what they were doing as work. But not Joan. She had finally found that person who was smarter than her. It was comforting and yet intoxicating at the same time.

Of course a problem like the Intersect was far to complex to solve in a single night, even for two people as brilliant as Joan and Steven. The last time she looked at the clock it was after three. That was the last thing she remembered.

When she walked out of the bedroom, Steven was at the kitchen table. He quickly poured her a cup of coffee. "Good morning," he said with a grin. "I've been thinking about your comments about the interleaved data flow. The idea is simply brilliant. I really think you're onto something. This could be the breakthrough I've been searching for. It's going to take a lot of work to flesh it out."

Joan took the coffee and sipped it gratefully. Fortunately she was very used to working all-nighters. That was a good thing since this was the second night in a row that she got very little sleep, obviously for different reasons. She stole a quick glance at the clock. She would have to hustle a little to get home, shower and change, and get to the office on time. "Did I fall asleep on you?" she asked, ignoring his compliment for the moment. "I'm sorry about that. You carried me to bed, didn't you? That was sweet."

"Don't be sorry," Steven said. "I wasn't about to let you sleep on my kitchen table. I'm the one who is sorry. It probably wasn't the most romantic date you've ever had. Would I lose any points if I admitted that you're not the first date to fall asleep on me?"

Joan smiled at his self-deprecating humor. He was worried about losing points? He had just earned another gazillion. But her smile wasn't entirely happy. She simply had to set the record straight. "You don't need to be sorry either," she said softly. "Romantic may not be the exact term I would use. But, Steven, I had the best time last night. It was pretty much the best night of my life."

That got the grin she had been looking for. "Mine too. Maybe we can do it again sometime?" he asked timidly.

Joan breathed a huge sigh of relief, grateful that he took the spear. She was wondering how to make the next date without sounding so much like the slut he already half expected. "Is tonight too soon?" she asked. Okay, so maybe she didn't care all that much about sounding too eager after all.

Steven's smile lit up the room. "Tonight would be great," he said. "How about I make dinner so we can be more casual? Do you like spaghetti? I have a secret sauce."

"I love spaghetti," Joan said. It was true. It was one of her favorite meals. She knew that maybe she should come across as not quite so eager here. She just couldn't help it. "I'll bring some wine."

"Six?" Steven asked.

Joan nodded. "Six would be great," she said. "I'll spend some time today thinking about the data flow issue. Maybe between us we can come up with a solution."

"That would be great," Steven said. But then his smile became a bit more serious. "Joan, I don't know how to say this without sounding odd. I know that I should tell you something about how beautiful you are, how your eyes light up the room, and how I find myself constantly staring at you. And those things are all true. But more than that, you're the smartest person I've ever met."

Joan gasped as she felt the blush already into her face. Odd? Maybe from someone else. But coming from him, it was also the nicest thing that anybody had ever said to her. "Wow," she said with a grin as she stepped up and kissed him. After all, he was clearly trying to decide if he should be so bold. She was the slut, right? And he took a spear for her just a minute ago. It was her turn. The bashful smile on his face plainly said that he was as grateful to her for taking that spear as she had just been. The kiss actually lasted more than a couple of beats longer than the kiss after a first date normally would, not that either was counting. She resisted the strong temptation to put her hands behind his head and really go for it. She knew where that would quickly lead and she didn't want to ruin this romantic moment between them by acting the slut. So she reluctantly broke the kiss. "Steven, that is without a doubt the nicest thing that anybody has ever said to me. I'll see you tonight. I'm really looking forward to it."

"Me too."

Isn't it funny how life works? As Joan left the house she made no attempt to suppress the silly contented grin that was currently plastered all over her face. She was simply bowled over by the irony. She had lived her life for years semi-happily without a boyfriend in it. Now she had landed two in as many days. And they couldn't possibly be more different.

Go figure.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck found himself lying on his back when his eyes popped open. His blonde bride was snuggled firmly into his chest softly snoring. And actually, the heat of her body felt good. After all, they were both naked. The room was not exactly cold, but it was certainly a lot cooler than when they had finally collapsed last night. Then again, maybe that's because they had been sweating last night from the very physical, non-missionary position love making session, and frankly, too exhausted to reach down and pull the sheet over them anyway.

As long as he was awake anyway, Chuck might as well take advantage, right? For some reason that he couldn't explain, he always felt a little embarrassed looking at Sarah naked. He knew it was silly. She was his wife. She was begging him to let her do things to please him. Posing for his enjoyment was the bare minimum she would be willing to do. She gladly put on a show and stripped for him whenever he gave her the slightest indication he was in the mood. That always felt odd somehow. But when she was sleeping… that was different. Maybe it made him somewhat of a peeping Tom but he just loved looking at her. And she was perfect lying there snuggled into him. Her smooth white skin simply had no flaw. Her breast, nipple hardened by the cool room, was perfection personified. Her perfectly flat stomach, her long toned legs that ended at… Well, she was clearly the most beautiful woman in the world.

Suddenly, Chuck realized why he was awake in the first place. He could hear the rummaging out in the living room. He groaned when he looked at the clock. Eight was far too early for housekeeping to be here. Didn't they understand that this was their honeymoon? Sarah never got a chance to sleep in. He was going to make damn sure that she wasn't cheated out of it by some overzealous…

So he carefully rolled out of Sarah's embrace, got out of bed, gently pulled the sheet over her to keep her warm, found the sweatpants that usually served as his pajamas, and threw them on, fully intending on asking the housekeeper to come back at a more reasonable hour… like noon maybe.

But when Chuck opened the door, he was surprised to find that it wasn't housekeeping. In fact it was the last person he expected to see. He was so stunned that it took a long moment to say anything at all. Finally he found his voice.

"Bryce, what are you doing here?"

x-x-x-x-x