A/N: Last chapter, was a happy family one; Chuck and Sarah with the Woodcombs. There were a number of revelations. First, for Ellie and Devon, that Chuck and Sarah were setting up a business together using both their skills, and later, for Sarah, that she was actually good with and enjoyed being with kids.
This chapter, the two of them really get started with the new venture. Software development is my background, so I've tapped into that here. Hope you don't all fall asleep like my wife does hearing about my work!
Thank again for all the reviews. Last chapter got far more than previous ones and most liked what they read.
LetsGoRed has done another great job as my beta, so I thank him for that, once again.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Chuck and definitely don't make any money from it.
= ! = =
Life After Death
Chapter 10 – Starting Up
= ! = =
Chuck and Sarah's house, two weeks later
The Woodcomb tribe had left two weeks ago. Sarah was surprised at how much she missed them.
She'd never missed anyone before. Even her new little sister, although maybe she was deluding herself there. She had missed that screaming baby! Well, not when she was screaming maybe, but between when she was snuggled up against her. Now Molly was older and Sarah missed her more. And she missed seeing Molly with Chuck, he was so good with the little girl.
She knew Chuck had changed her, made her want things more than she had before. Had he really changed her that much?
She was both embarrassed and ashamed of how she'd behaved when she was a little girl. Running out on her mom must have hurt her terribly. And was Sarah any different when she handed the baby to her mom? She'd basically said, "Take her. Bring her up like you would have done me. I have to go!"
It had taken that wonderful family coming into her life to make her realize how bad she'd been.
She held her head in her hands, thoroughly ashamed.
She must contact her mom and arrange to go and see them again.
That wasn't for now. Today she and Chuck were going to select their new office. That made her smile. Their office.
She watched Chuck closing the door of their home. She was beaming at him as he got into the passenger seat.
= ! =
Business park, Malibu
This was the second site they'd visited. The first was too cramped and so little light got in from outside. Sarah knew Chuck's home spoilt them, but even so…
This one was the complete opposite. Floor to ceiling windows. It was still being built, but already it felt like the perfect match for what they wanted.
It wouldn't be completed for another three months. That included parking and roads to get to it, as it was separate from the other buildings in the park. The benefit in signing up now is that they could dictate the inner layout.
She could visualize it already. The smaller, individual offices only along one wall. Meeting rooms in the center. The main office space was so well lit, it felt like being outside. They'd have vertical blinds for when the sun intruded too much.
And then there was the view of the beach.
It was further along the coast than Chuck's home, but not too far. It almost felt like home away from home. Hell, if they wanted to start the day with a run, it would only take fifteen minutes to get here!
Sarah looked at Chuck and just nodded once. He grinned. She knew they agreed, this was the one.
They'd put a deposit down later today and they'd be on a roll. It made the new company feel that much more real.
= ! =
Chuck and Sarah's house, one week later
Last night, they'd had their first argument.
Sure, she'd ticked him off about the break in and about how he'd communicated with his sister, or, more to the point, not. This, however, was the first real argument.
She'd been caught speeding.
Chuck had been telling her she shouldn't have done it and how this was important.
Sarah was getting annoyed with him. "Chuck, you're making a big deal of this. It was only 28 miles an hour over the speed limit!"
He couldn't believe she'd said that. He was now getting annoyed at her not caring. "28 is a lot, Sarah!"
"It's nothing, Chuck," she snarled.
"No, it's not!" he replied in a shocked voice.
"I used to drive 40 or 50 miles an hour over the limit, when I was an agent!" She was raising her voice now.
Chuck had raised his voice too, "So, reckless as an agent, reckless as a civilian, huh?"
"I am NOT reckless!" she yelled.
"Well, your driving is! You could kill someone if you had an accident!" he yelled back.
"I could kill you right now!" And with that, she stormed out of the house and drove off, speeding.
When she returned, three hours later, she'd gone straight to the guest room, slammed the door and not emerged until morning.
Chuck had made coffee for them and was waiting for her in the kitchen.
Sarah went straight to the bathroom and had a shower. She had a towel wrapped around her when she came out and was drying her hair with another one.
Chuck was leaning against the kitchen cabinet watching her, but not saying anything.
She walked up to him and put the towel in her hands down on the kitchen surface. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. In a quiet voice, she said, "Sorry."
He hugged her back. "Me, too, Sweetie."
He held her shoulders and pushed her away slightly, so that he could look at her face. "Sarah, I worry about you, but I'm sorry I attacked you like that."
"I'm just very sensitive about not being allowed to drive fast anymore, Chuck. I was trained to drive fast, safely, and have done so for over ten years, so your words really hurt, on both counts, but I should never have said what I did. Or stormed out. I'm so sorry, Chuck." She now had tears in her eyes.
"I forgive you, Sarah, and hope you can forgive me," he said, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.
"I do, Chuck," she replied with a tentative smile.
He leaned down holding her chin and gave her a tender kiss. She raised on tip toes and kissed him harder.
Their kisses lead them to their bedroom for some making up time.
= ! =
An hour later, Sarah had her head on her favorite, warm, pillow. "That was great, Chuck, but I think I'd rather we didn't need it. I don't want us to argue. And I don't want to sleep apart again. My feet were cold!"
Chuck was running the fingers of his left hand through her hair and smiled. "We'll have other arguments, Sarah. Everyone has them, but they won't stop me loving you and, hopefully, won't stop you loving me either."
"They won't." Then she leaned up and he could see mischief in her eyes. "So, we'll just have to have make up sex each time!"
Grinning, he pulled her up so he could give her another amazing kiss. She thought as she kissed him back, maybe arguments aren't so bad!
= ! =
Chuck and Sarah's house, three weeks later
Chuck was busy designing the new app. He'd got the high-level design complete, so he knew the overall structure of the app.
He'd told her that he was going to bring in four developers to work on this from what he called "User Stories." They would work in two-week "Sprints," and used "Extreme Programming" techniques, to create the solution "iteratively." After each Sprint, they should have some working software and subsequent Sprints would create new, sometimes linking to what had been done before, creating a larger solution, but not always. As they went, they'd "refactor" what they had in the Sprint to improve it. Other important things were "Test Led Development" (which sounded bizarre), "Pair Programming" (which sounded very inefficient, but apparently was not) and "Continuous Integration" (which at least made sense).
Apparently what he'd start doing first would be a series of "Spikes," two-week Sprints dedicated to proving technical solutions in his overall design. He'd said that should have been a team effort, but without a team, he'd just do it on his own.
These terms, and use of some words, were pretty confusing. It seemed like software development reused existing words and created terms that meant anything but what the words originally meant. He assured her that wasn't the case, but she wasn't convinced.
He'd put out some feelers for those developers. He seemed to know a lot of people in IT companies in L.A. He was hoping to attract ones he rated highly to start before the office was complete. That meant they'd have to give up their dining room, but hopefully not for long.
They'd also be eating into their joint savings, so she needed to get a handle on the finances and seek funding for the company before long. That was her main focus, currently.
Pinning Chuck down to resourcing, human and equipment, was a nightmare. He flew by the seat of his pants. To Sarah, the phrase seemed to have been written with him in mind! He was brilliant and, she suspected, a software genius, but the practical side of things were completely beyond him.
She sat thinking about her brilliant, but clueless, boyfriend and what he was doing at that moment.
He seemed to be in his element. She could hear him listening to music and singing along as he worked. She smiled. He actually had a lovely voice. She'd have to get him to sing to her, rather than his computer screen. That set her off thinking about him serenading her.
Chuck, walking in, saw a dreamy look on his girlfriend's face. "Watcha thinking?"
Sarah had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard him approaching the room, let alone coming in. She didn't like that lapse, but did like who had joined her. I need to regain my spy skills!
She grinned. "I was dreaming about you using that lovely voice of yours to serenade me!"
Chuck's eyebrows raised. "Serenade, huh?"
"Mhmm."
"I could do that. What would you like me to sing?"
That wiped the smile off her face. "I don't know music, Chuck. You'll have to choose."
He realized he'd never asked her music tastes before. "Never had a chance to just listen to the radio?"
She shook her head. "I heard music when at events and parties on missions, but apart from any dancing with marks, I never paid attention to it."
He frowned, "So, some lowlifes have been able to dance with you, but your boyfriend hasn't?"
Sarah just nodded, looking sad.
Chuck straightened his shoulders. "Well, that has to change! We're going out tonight. Dancing!"
That brightened her mood. "Oh, Chuck. I love dancing!" She got up and kissed him hard. Then she pushed away from him, giving him a serious look. "You still have to choose a song to serenade me with, though. I'm not letting you off the hook on that!"
He smiled, "Oh, I will."
"Good!" She snuggled back into their embrace. All thoughts of finances had evaporated.
= ! =
Scene 41 – LA Nightclub, that night
They'd been dancing for nearly two hours, almost non-stop since arriving.
He was a good dancer. Not great, but better than most. As she thought about it, she frowned. How was he a good dancer? He'd told her that he hadn't had a girlfriend since Stanford eight years ago and didn't socialize.
He was sitting at the bar with her next to him, getting them drinks. She would ask him once they took their drinks and found a table to sit at.
Her spy senses kicked in. Someone had come up the other side of her. She tried to just ignore it. Maybe they'd go away.
No such luck. A deep voice asked, "Hello, beautiful. Wanna dance?"
She didn't turn and just said, "No."
That wasn't what the man had wanted to hear. He grabbed her arm, trying to turn her around or even to pull her onto the dance floor. "Yeah, you do."
She noticed that Chuck was about to say something. She shook her head at him and turned to face this scumbag.
Giving him her death glare, she spoke quietly and very slowly, "Take. Your. Hand. Off. Me."
Chuck had no idea what the man saw in her eyes, but he gasped and let go, then quickly walked away.
"Wow! You're something else!" Chuck sounded breathless.
She turned and the big smile on her face made him gasp as he said, "And so gorgeous."
She grinned. "And all yours, Chuck!"
He nodded and reluctantly turned back to get the barman's attention, waving his money.
Once they'd finally gotten drinks, he led her to a table away from both the dance floor and bar.
After the first long, much needed drink, Sarah turned to him. "Where'd you learn to dance like that? You've told me you've had no girlfriends for eight years and no other socializing either."
Chuck put down his drink. His cheeks were turning red. She was now even more intrigued.
"Not at dance halls like this, for sure." He gulped. "El and I used to dance when we were young. After I came back from Stanford, I was pretty down. I stayed with her and Devon for a while, wallowing in misery over Jill. They both took pity on me. El danced with me a couple of times a week, with Devon acting as my 'dance coach,' just to get me up off the sofa!"
He looked away, but continued, "After I moved out, as I told you, she tried to set me up with her medical colleagues. The day before each date, she'd insist I go over for an evening, dancing. Just to make sure that didn't put the women off. I wasn't interested in the dates, but I loved dancing, so I never missed those."
Sarah took hold of his chin and pulled him around to look at her and quietly asked, "But that didn't help on the dates?"
He snorted. "I never got to dance on the dates. I ruined those before that! Or I decided I didn't like the woman and called a halt at the restaurant, but usually it was the person I was with that ended it early."
He tried to look away, but she wouldn't let him, "No. You're not turning away from me, Chuck!" He felt himself sinking into those azure eyes, even in this dim lighting. He could look at those for a long, long time.
Sarah grinned, seeing that dreamy look come back. It distracted her from her questioning. "You love looking into my eyes, don't you?"
He wasn't all there anymore, but managed to get out, "Mhmm."
She leaned forward and kissed him.
Then she thought back at his dancing answer. "Well, I'll have to thank Ellie and Devon. I enjoy dancing with you."
That surprised Chuck. "But you are so much better! I couldn't keep up with you!"
She chuckled, "You and every person I've danced with, other than my friends Carina and Zondra. But… you're the best I've danced with since them and I'd much rather dance with my gorgeous boyfriend than them any day!"
Chuck's eyebrows raised. "You'll have to tell me about them, but 'gorgeous'?"
"Gorgeous!" She nodded to make sure he got it.
"Well, when we've finished these drinks, your gorgeous boyfriend wants to dance some more with his gorgeous girlfriend!"
Sarah smiled, knocked back her drink, grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "Good!"
= ! =
Chuck and Sarah's house, 2am next morning
The taxi was driving away and they should be going in the house, but their kissing was getting more and more intense while still on the drive.
She had to stop this before any of the neighbors saw them. She gently pushed him away and grabbed her keys from her purse.
She had to use all her willpower to hold him at bay, even though she really didn't want to. Somehow, she opened the door and pulled him in.
They didn't get any further, as he pushed her up against the front door, kissing her neck. She couldn't resist him and gave in.
She loved this man, whether sobor or not. The night's dancing had intensified that somehow. It obviously did the same to him.
They'd eventually get to their bed for some sleep, but that wasn't going to happen for some time yet.
= ! =
Chuck and Sarah's house, 8am
Sarah woke. She smiled remembering the last night. God, it was so good! Again! They had gotten to bed, eventually.
She knew she should get them both up. They needed to talk about the finances before he started 'designing' again, but lying here spooning was just so good.
She thought about how she was lying in the bed. They always woke up this way, with him behind her, his hand on her stomach; her feet always intertwined with his, feeling warm.
How had she ever managed before? Well, it wasn't really that long ago and she did remember. She slept fitfully, waking from nightmares, usually more than once a night. Her feet were always cold. She'd been a mess all the time since that first killing.
Now that she slept with Chuck, whether they'd had sex that night or not, she never had nightmares and her feet never got cold in bed. This was heaven.
They could get up later. Finances would wait. She drifted back off to sleep.
= ! =
Chuck and Sarah's house, later that day
He was drinking coffee, but his mind wasn't there. Sarah knew he was already thinking about the app. Doesn't he always!
"Chuck, we need to talk. Before you disappear into your cave."
He'd always hated the phrase "we need to talk." He didn't know why. They'd never had bad conversations after she said that. It just seemed like an ominous phrase. He looked over to her with some trepidation.
She saw that look. It was the look that seemed to shout, "Don't leave me!" She placed a hand on his arm. "It's nothing bad, but I desperately need to discuss finances with you."
He brightened. He hated talking about finances, but this was so much better than the frightening conversation he'd conjured up from somewhere.
She then said, "I also want to talk about your insecurities. Well, and mine, but not now. Okay?"
He nodded. "So, finances, my second least favorite topic!"
She chuckled. "Yes."
She pulled him through to the dining room. The dining table was covered in paper. All of the sheets, showing a spreadsheet. The left column with text and the following columns with numbers.
"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Chuck sarcastically commented.
Sarah frowned at him. "But so important!"
His shoulders slumped. "Okay. What do you need to know first?"
"Let's start with the equipment you'll need. Servers, laptops, cabling and so forth."
"I'll need my laptop for that."
"I know. That's why I've brought it over." She pointed at the laptop.
"Oh."
"Come on. Let's get started. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."
= ! =
By the time they stopped for their evening meal, they hadn't yet covered their pooled savings; they'd talk about that tomorrow, but she'd got all the information she needed out of that big brain of his on what was needed.
She didn't have all the figures, but knew what hardware and software to buy. She'd hunt down the best prices and maybe even go into negotiation to get further reductions.
She sat back thinking about that.
Negotiations. She used to do that as part of missions. This was perhaps her most important mission, just not a spy one. This mission she wanted to last and last. That made her smile to herself.
My everlasting mission with the man I love.
= ! = =
A/N: So, their first argument. When I produced my first cut of the whole story, I was told it wasn't realistic without arguments, so, job done. We've also seen Chuck has started his software design and development, then they danced, a lot.
The Agile software development methods and practices are all real and were in use back in 2009 / 10 when this is set. in 2006 / 7, I established Agile in the company I worked for, a fairly early adopter in the UK. It was a significant change to how we implemented change; it affected the whole company and was very successful. There are now many other practices that have been set up since then, but the basic principles still remain. Bored now?
Next time, Sarah will, finally, get to understand their personal financial situation and they will start to bring in resources.
Please leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter. I really appreciate reading these and reply to them all.