A/N: Me: I have a plot. S&C: Whatever.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck
Ellie slowly opened the door to the safe house. She peeked inside, one eye shut. "Chuuuuccckkkk," she called out. "Sarrrraahhhh."
"Just a second!" she heard a frantic Chuck call out, and Sarah's melodic giggle.
"It was a pineapple situation," Ellie said in a low voice, smirking, as she walked over to the couch. "I just didn't mean about them being tailed."
}o{
"Have you two talked?" Ellie asked, as they exited the bedroom. Sarah was practically glowing, and Chuck was doing the same, but somehow simultaneously looking nervous.
"No," Sarah told Ellie. "I was too busy using his lips for other things." Chuck's eyes widened, and red crept up his neck.
"Still think I'm good enough for him?" Sarah asked Ellie. Ellie stood up and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Absolutely," Ellie told her. Chuck walked into the kitchen. "Never mind him, he's just being him."
"Yeah, I know," Sarah said, watching him. "It's fine." She turned to Ellie. "Now, was there really a situation?"
"There was. Maybe not the kind this was meant for, but a situation, nonetheless," Ellie admitted, smirking.
"Oh, come on!" Chuck said from the kitchen. Sarah saw the smile on Ellie's face and turned toward Chuck. He opened the refrigerator door wide, to show a fully stocked fridge. "You set us up."
"Yep," Ellie replied. She gave Sarah one last squeeze, and headed into the kitchen. "I know you. You wouldn't have said anything to her, and moped, and brooded, and worried. Right now, we need your head in the game, and not turned in on itself. So I put you two in a situation. As for the rest…" she trailed off, smirking.
"Chuck, she's right," Sarah told him.
"I mean, she is," Chuck replied, begrudgingly. "But… you couldn't have known…" He trailed off, seeing the look on Ellie's face. "Really, you couldn't have."
"Devon saw it," Ellie told him. "Hell, Jill probably saw it." Chuck sighed, knowing Ellie was probably right.
"Any word on her?" Chuck asked quickly, thankful for the ability to change the subject.
"Last I was told is she and Bryce have been constantly seen huddled up together," Ellie told him, getting serious. "Your little nerd network at Stanford has been doing their job well."
"People seem not to notice nerds," Chuck said with a shrug. "If they have their head stuck in a book in a strange location, no one thinks anything of it." He was silent for a second, then looked at Sarah. "How's your endurance?"
"I think you know damn well how my endurance is," she replied. Chuck choked and turned red, as Ellie sputtered laughter. "As far as walking, I can, but if I didn't have to, I'd rather not."
"Okay," Chuck replied, not looking at her for fear he'd turn redder. "What do you think, a week?" he asked Ellie.
"Probably two to be safe," Ellie replied. "Do you have a plan yet?"
"Been trying to keep her safe and figure out what, if anything, Dad is planning," Chuck admitted. "Something doesn't make sense between Vaas and Graham."
"Like why is a low-level gun runner so involved with the director of the CIA?" Ellie asked.
"More importantly, how is Vass involved?" Sarah asked. Chuck looked over at her. "This was supposed to be me getting my dad and your dad cleared, but something does not make one lick of sense."
"When Dad started doing all this stuff, it had nothing to do with Graham or Vaas," Chuck said. Sarah nodded. "So, the question is what were our fathers working on, and how do those two fit in?"
"Why don't we ask him?" Sarah asked. Chuck and Ellie gave her a look. "What?"
"He doesn't talk to us, just leaves cryptic messages for us from time to time," Ellie explained. "You know how to get in touch with him?"
"I have a website I can leave a message for him," Sarah told her. She was watching Chuck, who was lost in thought. "What are you thinking?"
"Graham cleaned up his image after coming out of the war," Chuck said. He saw the surprise on her face. "I know all about Langston Graham." Sarah nodded. "But Vaas is the one person we know to be mixed up with Langston, so why? And, maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like Vaas has something on Langston."
"I always got that feeling," Sarah agreed. "And, I could be wrong, but it seemed like my dad was helping yours get something, or parts for something."
"So dad was building something," Chuck said, nodding. "But none of us have any idea what."
"Plus, there's the whole Frost Queen thing," Sarah added. Chuck and Ellie snapped their head up, looking at her. "What?"
"What do you mean Frost Queen thing?" Ellie asked.
"Someone my dad and I guess your dad knew," Sarah said with a shrug. "Wherever dad was stationed, there was a CIA officer embedded with them. I've heard my dad and your dad talking about it before. They had a scientist with them as well, but I have no idea who they all are. All I have is a picture."
"You have a picture?" Ellie said, glancing at Chuck. "Is there any chance you have it now?" Sarah shook her head. Ellie pulled out a locket on a necklace she wore, and stared at it for a moment. Reaching behind her neck, she unhooked it and handed it to Chuck. Chuck opened the locket. "Any chance that's her?"
"That's her," Sarah said, nodding. "Who is that?"
"That's our mom," Chuck said softly.
}o{
"Okay, that explains your family's part in all of this, but what I don't understand is mine," Sarah said with a sigh.
"To take down Graham," Chuck said, nodding. It was all coming together for him now.
"I know that, but why?" Sarah asked, shaking her head.
"I don't know why. But I do know I'm going to help you. If you'll let me, that is," Chuck told her.
"Like I could stop you?" Sarah smiled at him, and hid nothing in the smile. "We have to hold hands, remember?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Ellie asked.
Sarah turned toward Ellie, missing Chuck frantically signaling her with his hands not to. "Otters," Sarah told her. Chuck deflated. "They hold hands while they sleep, so they won't float away."
"Oh, I know that," Ellie said with a grin as she stood and headed toward the door. "Who do you think reminded him of that?" Sarah's eyes widened, and Chuck dropped his head, his chin touching his chest. "Contact our father, see if he can give us any information as to what to do next." She paused at the door. "I'm so glad you two figured things out."
"Me too," Sarah chirped, a smile on her face. "Thank you, Ellie."
"You're welcome," Ellie replied, grinning. "Love you, Chuck." Chuck waved, never looking up. "Love you, Sarah."
"Love you, Ellie," Sarah replied, and with that Ellie was gone.
}o{
"We okay?" Sarah asked sometime later. Chuck pulled his head up, lost in his computer, trying to contact his dad. "You've been really quiet."
"Sorry, I was just concentrating on this," Chuck replied. He held out his hand to her. She took it, and plopped herself on his lap. She couldn't resist brushing her hand through his hair. "Uh, so, I guess we haven't talked yet and we really need to-"
"I want there to be an us," Sarah told him, her hand continuing to work its way through his curls.
"I-I am in favor of that," Chuck replied, a little shocked at her saying it. He had hoped she felt that way. He was pretty sure she did, the way she had communicated with him earlier…
"Don't get too lost in your head," Sarah said, snapping him out of his thoughts. Her fingers traced the back of his neck, his eyes fluttering. "I don't go telling just anyone I love them."
"I know," Chuck replied, pulling himself out of the euphoria he was currently experiencing. "It's just a little crazy that after not seeing you for so long, my dream girl tells me she loves me." He smiled at her, and her eyes held his. She started to lean in to kiss him when his computer chimed. "That's not important," he muttered as she stopped her descent.
"I don't believe you," she told him. "Open up whatever it is that you just received."
"Fine," Chuck huffed, making her giggle. It was from his father, there was no doubt about that. Chuck had begun to read the file when he felt Sarah tense on his lap. He turned to her, seeing her face. "Do you know this guy, Benjamin Douglas?"
"I know him, but I never knew him as Benjamin Douglas," Sarah admitted. "That's my father."
}o{
Sarah came out of the shower sometime later. She was drying her hair with a towel, when Chuck appeared in the bedroom door frame. "I'm sorry, Sarah, I should have recognized him from the picture. It's not like I hadn't seen him before." Sarah grinned at him. "What?"
"Chuck, why didn't you recognize my father?" Sarah asked, thinking she knew the answer. "Was your attention diverted elsewhere?"
"You know damn well it was," he said in a low voice that heated every part of her. "I didn't notice anyone when you were around."
"You know how to make me feel special," she admitted.
"It's just the truth." He was silent a moment. "Okay I'd love to continue this banter, but it would probably lead us back to…" He trailed off and glanced at the bed, and then back to her.
She shrugged, an impish smile on her face. He cleared his throat.
"From what I've figured out by reading that file is that Vaas was a gun runner, and Langston had used money from a CIA slush fund to buy guns from him. However, the money wasn't given to Langston until the guerrilla group got their guns."
"What did Dad do?" Sarah asked, resignation in her voice.
"How do you know it was your dad?"
She gave him a look. "Chuck, please, my father smells those things miles away, and then finds a way to mess them up, blow them up to turn a profit."
"To be fair, your father was actually just doing his job," Chuck told her. "No one had informed the men on the ground what was going on. Jack got the shipment, and was supposed to destroy them."
"He didn't," Sarah said, more statement than question.
"Nope," Chuck chirped. "He sold the guns for pennies on the dollar to move them. And that's where it gets weird."
"Oh boy," Sarah muttered, sitting on the bed. Chuck came over and sat down by her. "Is this smart?" Chuck raised an eyebrow, confused. "You… next to me… this bed…" She bounced her eyebrows.
"Oh, it is smart," Chuck confirmed. "Will I finish this story? No idea, but it is smart to be near you."
"I like how you think," she told him, circling his shoulders with her arms. "Please do continue this tale of my father, and his misdeeds."
"There's a bad girl joke in there somewhere that I am not gonna make-"
"You think I'm a bad girl… Chuck?" she asked, emphasizing the k.
"Jesus," he choked out, making her giggle. "I'm going to continue this story, while you work to contain your libido over there."
"I'm practically in your damn lap, what do you mean 'over there'?"
"I have to think of you as over there, or else I might react to your libido in my damn lap." He was silent for a moment. "That sounded much better in my head." She kissed him gently. "Will you control yourself, woman?" She giggled again. "So, apparently, they sent in my mother, father, and a scientist, to your father's unit. The scientist's name was Hartley Winterbottom."
"Okay," Sarah said, now curious as to where this might go.
"From what I can determine, Hartley and Dad had created an Intersect that could replace your personality, temporarily," Chuck continued. "From what I read, Hartley was going to use that Intersect, and become an even bigger, badder arms dealer, to deal with Vaas and fix the situation with Graham." Sarah nodded, following so far. "And then… then it went bad."
"It didn't work?"
"Oh, it worked, too well," Chuck said, sighing. "Apparently my mother went in as his right-hand person. The Intersect changed Hartley completely, and wouldn't revert back like it was supposed to."
"What happened?" Sarah asked, pulling away from Chuck, engrossed in the story completely.
"Hartley took over Vaas's gang," Chuck explained. "He made Vaas and himself millions, becoming one of the most notorious gun runners ever. Your dad and my dad have spent the rest of their lives trying to fix this mess. But then, right before you turned sixteen, it went really sideways." Sarah was enthralled by the story at this point.
"You okay?" she asked. Chuck nodded. "Do you need to stop?" He shook his head. "Hey, Chuck, it's your mom we're talking about here… wait, is she okay?"
Chuck blew out a breath, and looked her in the eye. Her face melted, seeing the hurt and emotion on his face. "Mom had enough, and decided that she thought she knew how to get out of this," he said softly. "She told Vaas what was really going on, thinking he'd help her." He looked up at the ceiling and blew out a breath. "Vaas apparently knew that he could never make as much money as Volkoff and he apparently is a greedy sonofabitch."
"What happened?" Sarah asked.
"After she told him, he turned on her, and told Volkoff," Chuck continued. Sarah suddenly feared for Mary's life. "They then contacted Graham and told him they knew everything, and began to blackmail him. That's why they came after you and your dad so hard. They wanted to use you as leverage against your dad, and my dad to fix this thing."
"And your mom?" Sarah asked.
"A hostage," Chuck said softly.
"Is she… is she…."
"I don't know what they've done to her, Sarah," Chuck admitted, a tear falling down his cheek. She wrapped her arms around him, cradling him as he began to cry. "We have to save her."
"We will," Sarah promised him… and herself.
A/N: I found the plot! Now will they behave long enough for me to follow it… God only knows.