Chuck Versus the Christmas Caper
By Steampunk . Chuckster
Summary: New Christmas traditions bring Chuck, Ellie, and Devon to the small beach resort of Capitola, California for a three week vacation. But his holiday plans for fun under the Northern California sun don't play out the way Chuck expects them to when other vacationers staying in the beachfront hotel start raising his suspicions. Can he maintain a new friendship with a fascinating and beautiful neighbor while getting to the bottom of this Christmas caper?
A/N: Trying to get these out a bit quicker. But I want to take this space to dedicate this chapter to my best friend and brother David Carner and his family. They were in the path of the monster tornadoes that decimated parts of the South last night and while he's okay and his family's okay, all are healthy and uninjured, it was a close enough call that they're dealing with some real shit emotionally and mentally today, and I want him to know I'm carrying him, his parents, and the rest of his family in my heart right now. So this is for you, brother. Love you a lot and I'm glad you're okay.
Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck and I'm not making any money by writing and posting this fic.
Nothing thrilled Eleanor Faye Bartowski more than listening to true crime podcasts. She listened to them in her car, she listened to them when she was prepping the week's meals in the kitchen on weekends, and she listened to them when she was exercising.
And that meant that Chuck Bartowski also listened to them.
He couldn't help it, as he lived with his sister. He heard it in her car. He heard it when she was exercising in the living room while he was gaming. He heard it when helped her prep meals for the week. He appreciated the way the podcast set up those climactic moments, the big twists landing so solidly they just about knocked him over. He and Ellie would both stop chopping whatever they were chopping, and they would listen hard, and then they'd both let out "Ooooohhh!" sounds when the twist dropped.
So it followed that he also couldn't help letting those true crime podcasts seep under his skin, into his brain.
That was how he found himself back out on the grounds of the Venetian after the sun set, wandering around the grounds. Sure, maybe he looked a little bit like a prowler. But he had his room key handy so at least if someone tried to accuse him of prowling, he could produce his key and insist he was just out walking, getting some fresh air.
He went back to that garden. It looked different at night, lights draped in the trees, dangling, making the area look like a winter wonderland or something.
At the beach.
"Nice," he murmured, looking up at the lights and smiling. He forgot his mission momentarily, soaking it in. And then he slipped right back into it, raising his eyebrow and stepping into the narrow sort of alleyway between the buildings, trotting down the two steps, strolling to the corner behind which the girl and Mr. Tattoo Sleeves had disappeared.
The white Christmas lights lining the roofs of the stucco buildings shone down over the path behind him, so he turned and looked around it. What did he even expect to see there? Some kind of clue? She dropped a glove or something?
He rolled his eyes at himself.
As if Mr. Tattoo Sleeves might've dropped his driver's license or something, conveniently, just for the sleuthing Buy More Nerd Herd supervisor to find.
Huffing in frustration, he walked around the corner and froze.
"Mr. Tattoo Sleeves," he whispered to himself, spotting the man and knowing it was him, even at night, with the moon blocked by clouds, shadows cast over the pair, their heads bent together as they spoke.
Their profiles were facing him, and he oh so slowly backed away, stepping behind the corner to hide again. He let out a rough breath, shutting his eyes in relief for a second, and then he leaned over to sneak a subtle peek at them.
They hadn't noticed him, thank God.
The woman with Mr. Tattoo Sleeves had a pixie cut, was on the shorter side, but she was also built like a tank. "Tank Girl," he whispered, watching as she reached over to drop the cigarette she'd been smoking on the sidewalk, using the toe of her Docs to snuff it out. Chuck gasped and rasped, "Littering…"
Criminals.
They had to be.
Docs and a leather jacket? Tattoo sleeves? Their faces close as they did angry whispering? And what he'd seen with the purple haired girl earlier? Something was going on with these people and it was weird.
Tank Girl shook her head in frustration and walked away from Mr. Tattoo Sleeves, who threw up his hands and followed quickly.
"Oh!" Chuck hurried out from behind the corner and rushed after them, but by the time he got to the path they'd gone down, they were both gone. Again. "Oh come on, what the hell?"
Were they all shapeshifters? Jesus.
Chuck ruffled his curls in annoyance and spun around to leave again. Only to find a five year old sitting on the front stoop of one of the rooms, staring at him unblinkingly, an action figure in his hands.
"Oh. Hey. Hi there. Could you help me? There was a short woman with short hair, cool leather jacket. And a-a dude who's tall, tattoos… They came past here. Did you see which way they went?"
The kid just stared at him. Unmoved.
"Did…" He furrowed his brow. "Did you…see them? Or…?"
Nothing.
"Inglés? Je suis anglais? Eakspay englishway?"
Still nothing.
Chuck shrugged. "Welp, I tried."
He stuck his hands in his pockets and trudged off, disappointed again.
}o{
"Fuck me."
She'd stayed in her room after sundown every night since she arrived, and tonight, she made the decision to find somewhere to eat, maybe the hotel's patio restaurant, or she'd wander out to the town behind the hotel and find somewhere roaming the streets.
That was how she ended up standing here, looking up at the Christmas lights, covering every freaking surface just about. Everywhere.
She couldn't escape it.
She would never be able to escape it no matter where she went.
She didn't know why she'd expected differently. Like Christmas didn't happen in beach towns.
Letting out a slight whimper, she allowed herself to wallow in the misery of it all for a moment, and then she sighed and wandered out onto the Main Street behind the Venetian, pulling her coat tighter around her body and strolling down the sidewalk.
She eyed the storefronts, purposely not looking up.
And she ignored the teenagers walking past her scream-singing "Jingle Bells", too.
Maybe next year, she could find an isolated island, her own private island. Where Christmas didn't exist. Where she didn't have to have it all rubbed in her face, the bad memories of Christmases past invading her thoughts.
She finally found a vendor that was selling really good smelling hot dogs in toasted buns, so she bought one, the urge to buy a full, expensive meal, treating herself with wine and steak or something having left her system upon seeing Christmas slapped all over Capitola's buildings and streetlights.
She ate as she walked back, deciding to just lock herself back up in her room. The hot dog consumed, she ducked into a liquor shop, got a bottle of whiskey, and carried it back, swinging by the ice machine, and hiding in her room again to pour herself a glass and nurse it.
Was this gonna be her whole vacation? Probably.
Karma, maybe.
Most likely.
}o{
Ellie and Awesome had decided to walk to a bakery they'd found nearby and Chuck had opted to let them go on their own, so long as they brought him something delicious back.
Instead of the jaunt to the bakery, he'd changed into his swim trunks, tugged on a T-shirt, stepped into flip-flops, grabbed a beach towel, and headed out to the beach. There was more sun today than there'd been the last few days and he was taking advantage.
He kicked at the sand a little as he walked through it, lifting his phone to snap a photo of the ocean, then stopping and turning around to take a picture of the colorful front of the hotel, and the way the buildings behind climbed up the hill towering over the beach.
Chuck sent both of them to Morgan just as he heard, "Hey, you!" off to his left.
He smiled even before he turned to spot her sitting on the beach, on a towel she'd laid out over the sand. She didn't stretch out her tall figure across it to tan this time, instead just sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, and instead of being in a bikini, she was in dark blue jean capris and a white button-up with the sleeves rolled up above her elbows. Her hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head. She wiggled her fingers that were wrapped around her knees in a cute little wave.
"Hi." He pocketed his phone and waved back.
"Is this just a thing that you do? Standing in one spot on the beach for a while?"
Chuck felt himself blush, knowing she was referring to when he'd blocked her sun. "Uhhhh. No, I—Um, well I was just thinking. This is kind of amazing, right? Like, it's the perfect spot. I stand here facing this way, and ahhhhhh…" He made like the angels singing as he swept his hand across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean in front of them. And then he turned back to look at the colorful Venetian hotel and the hill with the buildings climbing up it again. "I turn to look in this direction and I've got that to look at. Just beauty no matter which way I'm facing."
She made a thoughtful face from where she sat about fifteen feet away from him. And then she hummed just as thoughtfully. She looked out towards the sea, and then she turned to look over her shoulder at the hotel. "You know what? You make a good point."
"Yeah. And-And I'm standing on this side of you so that I don't block your sun this time. So there we go." He smiled.
Raising her eyebrow, the young woman pursed her lips dubiously. "A-ha. So this was a calculated choice then, coming out here and standing nearby."
"No, it wasn't!" he rushed out. "I didn't know you were even here. Honest. Not calculated at all. But-But I'm glad you are. Here, I mean." She merely smiled at him. And that gave him enough courage to point and clear his throat, shyly asking, "Can I—Can I come and…sit? S'that okay?"
She raised her eyebrows, but before he could backtrack, tell her it was fine, that he'd leave her alone, she nodded. "Yeah. Sure." And she flicked her head in a silent gesture for him to join her.
Chuck walked over and sat a safe distance away, on the sand, not wanting to just plop onto her towel.
But she smoothed her hand over the towel that stretched out on either side of her and shrugged one shoulder. "You wanna sit on the towel? I don't bite, I promise."
"Oh, no. No, that's okay. I'm good with sand. Me and sand, we're, um, we're simpático."
She giggled. "Okay. If you're sure."
"How-How are you? Since we last…spoke."
Nodding, she pushed a few wisps of hair that escaped from her bun out of her face, and she gave him a closed mouth smile. "Oh fine. I'm on vacation after all. You? How are you?"
"Good. Good. Yeah. Vacation. So. Still kinda in rest mode, personally. Don't wanna really do stuff just yet, ya know? Um, you do anything interesting yet?"
She almost seemed not to know how to answer for a second, and then some sort of mask or something slipped over her pretty features and she shrugged one shoulder cutely. "I ate a hot dog that I bought from a street vendor."
"Really?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah. Probably not what you meant when you asked if I did anything interesting, but that's all I got."
"Hey now. Wait a sec. Okay? Because anything concerning food is interesting to me. So I want to hear about this friggin' hot dog, a'right?" Giggling, she shook her head. "I wanna know how big it was, if it came with a bun, what condiments you put on that thing…"
"Oh, mustard. Come on. And a toasted bun."
"A t—" He gave her a sideways look, his brow furrowed. "The bun it came in was toasted? Oh my God. Heaven." She laughed. "See? Talk about food with me, and I'm fascinated. Every time."
"Noted."
"I dunno how you feel about food talk, but if you're into it, I gotta tell you about this lobster bisque I had for dinner last night." She grinned at him in amusement. "There's a restaurant about two blocks that way," he pointed, "with really fantastic seafood, and I know, I know. What the hell am I thinking, going to a seafood restaurant and instead of getting a big slab of halibut or swordfish or something, I get lobster bisque, but I just had this serious craving for it. Deep in my soul. You ever get that…?" He paused then when he realized after the conversations they'd had so far, they still hadn't exchanged names. He had no idea what her name was.
"Sarah," she said. And then she turned to look out at the water, squinting, fixing her sunglasses tighter over her eyes, her lips turning into a thin, hard line.
"Sarah?"
"Yep." She ducked her head, distractedly slapping a few grains of sand from the leg of her pants. "And you?"
"Oh! Right, sorry. Chuck. I'm Chuck." He stuck his hand out towards her and she smiled, taking it as they shook hands and let go after a while. Chuck cleared his throat and turned to look out at the water too. "Sarah," he tried it out again, and then he sent her a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too, Chuck."
They both turned to look out towards the Pacific again and he rubbed his hands up and down the thighs of his swim trunks, feeling a bit of an awkward silence settle unevenly between them.
"Did you know this town goes back to, like, the mid-eighteen hundreds?" he blurted then to fill the silence. He inwardly winced as he felt her eyes on the side of his face. "Like, there's some major history in Capitola. I thought it was just this cute little seaside town full of small town Santa Cruz-type hippies or something, but there's a lot more to it."
Sarah smirked. "Small seaside town hippies, huh?"
"Yeah. Santa Cruz kinda has a rep." He pinched his thumb and pointer finger together as if he was holding a marijuana joint and he brought it to his lips, lowering his fingers again and pretending to blow smoke into to the air.
"Ah, yes. I know about this reputation," she said with a one note giggle. "Hey, that was pretty good, by the way. Do you have any experience?"
He made a face. "What, smoking pot?" Then he narrowed his eyes. "It isn't, like, a habit. But I…have done it. Before."
"You trying to convince me you aren't a pothead? Do I look like some kinda narc?"
Chuck blinked, then gave her a faux concerned look. "Do I seem like a pothead? If I do, I'd better change some things about how I present myself to people."
She pursed her lips and twisted them to the side, raising her eyebrows. "Well, you do like comic books."
"I like good stories and rad art! You don't have to ingest a psychoactive drug to like good stories and rad art!" he laughed.
Laughing with him, Sarah made a teasingly dubious sound.
"What, you think nerds like me sit around reading comic books, playing video games, and smoking pot? Well…Okay, some of us do. I'm sure."
She propped her chin on her knees, which made her somehow look younger and she shrugged. "I don't judge."
"Wait, but you judged my comic book?!"
She cracked up and he chuckled, hoping she knew he was teasing her and not actually offended. "I wasn't really. It's just new for me. I haven't seen one of those in someone's hands who wasn't, like, twelve."
"Woooow," he laughed. "Okay. But no judgment."
"No, of course not," Sarah giggled, giving him a cheeky grin, her chin still propped on her knee.
He pulled his legs up close to his chest to mimic the way she was sitting and he propped his own cheek on his knee, smiling back. "So, uh…ahem, you, uh, try the water yet?" He lifted his cheek and gestured towards the ocean with a flick of his chin.
"What, that?" She pointed at the water with her thumb and gave him an Are you serious? look. "It's like sixty-nine degrees. And by my recollection, the Pacific Ocean tends to be colder than you expect it to be. Every time."
Chuck didn't miss the way she'd said that. And he stored it in his brain. "That's fair. Good point. It's probably very cold. But I'm definitely gonna do it."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mhm."
"Right now?"
He turned to face her better. "W-What? What d'you mean?"
"Are you gonna do it right now?"
"What, you mean…going into the ocean? No. Nope."
Her laugh sank into his skin, bled through his muscle, and drilled into his bones. In the best possible way. "You said you're definitely gonna do it."
"Well, n-not now. It's too cold out here."
"This is the sunniest, warmest day we've had in the past few days. Not sure it's gonna get much warmer than this, bud. So it's now or never." She held her arms out to either side of her, almost as if she was taunting him.
Peer pressure. God damn peer pressure. Especially from a peer who seemed as cool as she was, who was as pretty as she was. And he really didn't have the will power at the moment to force himself not to care what she thought about him.
"You know what? Fine. Okay. I'm going in. Right now."
She snorted. "I'm teasing you, Chuck. Don't go in there. It's cold."
"Nope. I said I'm definitely gonna do it, and you're right, it isn't gonna get warmer than this probably. No better time than now, right?" He pushed himself up to his feet, looked at the water for a long moment, and began the march towards the water.
"Chuck, are you serious?" she called after him, giggling.
"Yup!" he threw back at her over his shoulder, marching down to the water.
God, the second his feet hit the hard-packed wet sand, it got so much colder and he shivered. This was going to be so damn cold. But he kept going anyway. And when the wave approached, he went tense, steeling himself for it.
The water trickled over his toes, up his feet and to his ankles. It was numbingly cold. A shock went through his body and he cried out, "Oh God! Oh, no. Hell no!" Immediately marching away from the water, shivering, he power walked back up the shore towards where Sarah sat, laughing so hard she'd rocked forward.
"Cold?" she asked through the laughter as he approached.
"That was fucking cold. There is no way I'm doing that again," he snapped, plopping back down in the sand next to her and waving his feet to dry them off. Oh God, they were still so cold.
"You didn't have to do that," she giggled.
"I absolutely did have to do that. And now you can know for sure, without even a single doubt, that I am a big macho brave man," he joked, sending her a smolder.
She cracked up. "No, you're totally right. I was especially impressed by the high-pitched scream when the water touched your toes."
"You like that?" he tossed back. "I feel like I hit the perfect note, honestly."
She only laughed harder.
}o{
Strange, how easily a comfortable silence had settled between them eventually as they sat out there on the shore, time passing, the scenery becoming a little brighter, a few more people starting to wander out.
Her eyelids drifted shut and she sighed, smiling a little.
This was comfortable. Comfortable enough that she'd freaking tossed a name at him, the name she only used at Langley, the name on her CIA credentials, the credentials she flashed when she showed up at a scene and needed a free pass to get into places and boss cops around. Why that name? That wasn't the name on the driver's license in her wallet. Or the two other driver's licenses she had in her bags. And it wasn't the name on the credit card she'd used to rent the hotel room for the next few weeks, either.
They checked her in as Penelope Irvine. Penny Irvine, the architect from Detroit. On vacation, away from her work for a few weeks. That was her story she'd drummed up in her head.
And yet, she'd told him "Sarah", and she really didn't know why. It had just come out. She should probably be more worried about that, but he wouldn't know what name her room was under. It didn't matter. None of this mattered. In a few weeks, she'd have a plan and she'd be on her way to putting that plan into action.
For now, she didn't need to fixate on any of that.
She guessed she was Sarah, and she was weirdly okay with it right now. Comfortable.
And then she heard his voice softly drift into her ears again.
"So Sarah, um, where'd you travel from?"
Sarah blinked her eyes open and felt a chill go through her. "Hm?"
"I mean, you're on vacation. I guess I'm assuming since you're staying at this hotel that you don't live in the area."
"I…don't live in the area."
Maybe she'd get away with that.
"So not a Santa Cruzian. Is that what they're called? Santa Cruzian? Doesn't matter," he said, brushing his hand through the air dismissively. "And you're not Californian. Probably not even from the West Coast at all."
Sarah lifted her chin and looked at him with one arched eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" She couldn't help being curious.
"Earlier, you said something about how you recollect the Pacific Ocean is a lot colder than you think it's gonna be every time." Sarah gaped at him a little. He'd…heard that? And remembered it? "It's the way you said that you recollect, as if you have been away from the Pacific for a while. Or maybe this is the first time you've been to the Pacific Ocean, the first time you've seen it. But it doesn't sound like you live on the West Coast."
She couldn't help smirking, shaking her head. She wasn't even mad, she realized. "I'm neither confirming nor denying," she said, smirking harder and looking at the water again.
"What? Oh man, come on. Well, I'm gonna go with it. Oh wait, I just realized. You might be Alaskan." She spun on him with her best what the fuck? look. "What? You might be." He made a thoughtful face then. "Wait, maybe not. Alaska touches the Pacific too."
"It's the Bering Sea." He raised his eyebrows. "What? Alaska is against the Bering Sea, and above that is the Chukchi Sea. At the northernmost part of Alaska is the Beaufort Sea." She demonstrated with her hand outstretched in front of them.
"But it's still in the Pacific," he said when he finally recuperated.
"No, it isn't. This is the Northern Pacific Ocean right here in front of us already. And then it stops at the Bering Sea."
"But the Pacific and the Atlantic and the Arctic and the…the ocean at the bottom."
"The Southern Ocean," she said, smiling in amusement at him, honestly a little charmed. She couldn't help it.
"Yeah, the one in the south. Not the bottom. I'll use the proper word. The ocean to the south."
"No, Chuck, it-it's called the Southern Ocean. Literally, that's what it's called."
He widened his eyes and reached out his hand, his fingers gently curling around her forearm. "Wait, really? It's called the Southern Ocean?" She nodded, even more amused, aware of how warm his hand was, the warmth bleeding through the shirt sleeve she'd since unrolled. "That's kind of amazing. And really unoriginal." She giggled. "So Alaska isn't in the Pacific technically. So…what you're saying is that Alaska shouldn't be cancelled off my list of possible places you live."
Sarah laughed, rolling her eyes. "Oh my God. Okay, here. How's this? I don't live in Alaska."
"A-ha!" He snapped his fingers and pointed, leaning back with a massive grin that made his nose wrinkle. "One state down. Forty-nine to go." She rolled her eyes, her smile growing in spite of herself. "Sorry, I'm terrible at geography. Definitely not my strong suit, so you are probably right about the different oceans and seas."
"So what is your strong suit?" She eyed him closely, but subtly.
"Um, science. Wait, geography counts as science, doesn't it? More like the tech side of science."
Sarah made a thoughtful sound and tilted her head. "I can see that."
"Because I'm a nerd?" he asked in a flat voice, a self-deprecating smile on his face.
She sent him a miffed look. "No!" Rubbing her hand over her knee distractedly, she pursed her lips. "Because you seem like you'd be…smart like that."
"Sarah, I didn't know that the Southern Ocean was actually called…the Southern Ocean. We legit had a miniature Abbott and Costello thing going on here about it." She honked out a laugh, emitting a sound she didn't think she'd ever heard come out of her before. "But thanks. Thank you. That's nice of you to say that."
"Hey, I dunno. You probably don't need to know about ocean and sea names to be able to…I don't know. Fix a computer?"
"Eyyyyyyy." He nudged her cutely. "I do fix computers."
"Ha!" She was kind of proud of herself. "Wait, do you really?"
"Mhm. I work in IT."
"Just computers?"
"Uhhhh…anything related to stuff that has electronics, circuit boards, and whatnot. Pretty much."
She narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin. "So if I have a laptop problem, you'd be able to fix it?"
"If it's fixable? Yep. Absolutely." There was a confidence in the way he said that. Which meant he must be pretty good at his job, because she'd already picked up hints of a lack of confidence in other areas. "Why? You have a problem with your laptop? I can look at it if you need me to."
He probably didn't mean for her to hear the eagerness in his voice, because he cleared his throat and pulled back a little, glancing away and rolling his eyes at himself.
"My laptop's okay. It was just a question."
"Ah. Okay. Well…if anything does happen to your laptop, or-or your phone or anything, I'm your guy." He poked himself in the chest with his thumb.
"Well, thank you. Sweet of you." Chuck nodded with a smile. She didn't offer up anything about herself. Yet again. If she did, she'd have to lie, and she didn't enjoy the prospect of lying to this self-proclaimed nerd with his IT expertise.
But then he went tense for a moment and reached down to dig in the pocket of his swim trunks. He produced his phone. "Uh, sorry…you mind if I…?" He pointed to the ringing phone with his other hand.
"Not at all. Please."
He smiled gratefully and answered it. "Hey! Sup?" She heard a female voice on the other end of the phone, but she couldn't hear what she was saying. "Yesssss thank you! No, no. I love a good baguette. Baguettes are my favorite."
She found herself wondering who this was to Chuck, if it was someone he'd come to Capitola with, or someone he'd left behind at home, wherever home was. But he didn't seem at all reluctant to talk to whoever she was while Sarah was sitting right here listening in. And that felt strange, different. It wasn't strange, though, was it? Her endless secrecy was the strange thing. This was normal. He had nothing to hide. Nothing about this needed to be a secret.
"Okay, thanks. Yeah, I'll head up in a bit and we can figure out dinner," he was saying. That made something in her frown. "I'm down at the water, that's where I am. Sure, sure. Yeah. You and Awesome go ahead and unwind." She raised an eyebrow at that. Awesome? There was a pause as he sent her a wince. "I thought it was only a mile or two." He chuckled. "Okay, yeah. See you in a few. Bye, sis."
Oh. His sister.
He hung up then. "Sorry about that. My sister and her boyfriend walked to a bakery and they thought it was a lot closer than it, um, ended up being. Oops. They sound tired now."
She giggled. "I've done that."
"Haven't we all? Uh, I should go up soon but…not yet."
Sarah smiled down at her knees and stretched her legs out, feeling her muscles protest a bit. She reached up to stretch her shoulders and arms too, a few things popping deliciously. "So you're here with your sister?"
"Oh. Yeah. My sister and her boyfriend, yep. Ugh, I know, third wheel to the max."
"Hey, no. I actually think that's really nice that you get along with your sister enough to take a vacation with her."
"Thank you. Yeah, we're really tight. And I love her boyfriend."
"Is that…the person you called…Awesome?" she asked tentatively.
"It is."
"You really call him Awesome?"
"It's because he is Awesome. He does all these awesome things. Which is kind of hilarious because the guy will jump out of a plane tens of thousands of feet in the air, but I could hear him whining in the background about how long it took them to get to the bakery and back again."
She laughed. "The journey from the door of a plane a few thousand feet up to the ground is very different from the door of a hotel to the bakery." He made a face as though he had to give her that one and she shrugged. "I dunno, I tried."
"No, that was pretty apt," he chuckled. "I honestly tried not to come if you can believe it."
"Why?"
"Vacation with my sister and her boyfriend. For three weeks. First of all, that's money I…erm…don't have readily available. But also, how laaaaame. See ya, everybody. Leaving for Christmas vacation on my sister's dime as a grown-ass adult man byyyyyyyye!" He waved with a big, toothy grin.
"Oh." She pressed her lips together and nodded. "I get it. I-I mean, I get why you feel that way. But if it helps, I don't think it's lame. If your sister didn't want you to be here, she wouldn't make it possible for you to come. I mean, this being on her dime. I'm sure she's really glad you're here." She didn't know what in the hell she was even saying. It sounded stupid, trite, and paltry to her ears and she regretted saying it.
"She is. I know she is. Maaaaannnn, I'm so glad I'm here toooooo." And he surprised her, flopping onto his back in the sand and letting his arms fall to sides so he was lying there next to her spread eagle.
Sarah giggled. "That's all that matters, I'd think. The rest of it, at the end of the day? Eh."
His job must not pay as well as his sister's, and it felt like that wasn't what bothered him. It bothered him that she was paying for his trip, though. She felt that emanating off of him. She got that, not wanting to be indebted to anyone. Not wanting that hanging over your head.
She didn't owe a cent to anyone, and never had, not in her whole life. That gave people a reason to have their fist around your throat. And she knew now how naive she'd been, thinking that not having monetary debts meant she was free, when the whole time, the CIA had its grip around her throat, Langston Graham had his grip around her throat.
"Thanks. You're right. I'm gonna keep that in mind." There was regret in his soft features then and he frowned. "Ugh, I better get up there. When Ellie exercises more than she meant to exercise, she gets hungry quicker, and then the hangry Ellie comes out. I don't want to get back up there to my suite only to met with my hangry sister."
Sarah laughed and nodded. "Fair. Um, thanks for the chat. Again."
His grin was big again, genuine and all-encompassing. And it filled her with a nice feeling she couldn't quite describe. "Hey, no. Thanks for letting me sit here and interrupt your peaceful beach chilling."
"You didn't interrupt."
Chuck pushed himself to sit up then, scooting away from her and slapping at his back, brushing the hair off of his shirt and arms, then ruffling his dark brown curls. She watched sand billow down onto the shoulders he'd just brushed off and she hugged herself with her arms.
"See ya around?" he asked, and she could see it was a sincere question, not a rhetorical one.
"Yeah. See ya around," she answered.
He grinned again. "Okay, tight. Bye, Sarah." He thrust his hand out and she took it, charmed when he shook her hand up and down a few times, before he let go of her, saluted her, and jogged up the beach to the hotel…
…Leaving her alone, the day somehow a little warmer than it had been an hour ago.
}o{
He chuckled as the older man presented the baguette to him with both arms outstretched, the long bread perched on his palms, as if it was an enchanted sword he was bequeathing to him after courageous deeds that saved the kingdom. "Your roll, my good sir."
"Thanks, man. It will be an honor to literally break bread with you."
"You two are something else," Ellie giggled, and she went into the small fridge, popping it open. "How's champagne sound with our breads, cheeses, and fruits?"
"Champagne? How did I miss you sneaking champagne into the cart when I offered to pay for the groceries?" Chuck asked, sending her a teasing glare.
"I'm a sneak, what can I say?" His sister shrugged coyly. "Anyway, we have something to celebrate."
"Yep. Vacation!" Devon chirped, clapping his hands together once.
"That, yes. But also, one other thing."
Chuck tilted his head in question. "What other thing…?"
Ellie sighed. "Okay, honestly, this has nothing to do with the champagne. I just wanted a reason to bring this up. When we got back from our walk to the bakery, my dear brother, I thought I'd just walk down to the beach wall and peek to see if I could spot you out on the sand when I called you. Well, I spotted you. And that's not all I spotted."
He groaned, knowing where this was going now. "Awwww, Elllll… Seriously?"
"Look, I've been saving this up during our whole grocery shopping trip. I'm absolutely asking you now."
"Asking what?" Awesome asked, out of the loop.
"Ellie, it isn't—"
"Who's the girl you were talking to out there?"
Captain Awesome's jaw dropped and he spun to face Chuck. "GIRL? Broooooo!" Ellie reached out to excitedly pat her boyfriend's hard chest, biting her lip, her green eyes all lit up.
"Both of you take some deep breaths, please. She's a woman staying in this hotel and we were both out on the beach and got to chatting. That's it." That wasn't really it, but then, it was at the same time…
He didn't want to project anything onto the two conversations he'd had with Sarah. Not any kind of expectations, and not his own freaking insecurities. That was the worst thing he could do. He did it all the time, on first dates, when meeting people for the first time, he heaped his insecurities onto their shoulders and it weighed them down and it messed everything up. Every single time.
Chuck was on vacation. Three whole weeks. He wasn't going to mess it up by pinning expectations onto this woman he'd only talked with twice. It just wasn't happening, damn it. He refused.
"Okay, okay, fine. I could only see her back, but she seemed cute. That's all I'm going to say," Ellie finished in a rush, holding her hands up in surrender, lifting her chin prissily. "That's it. That's all I have to say on the matter. I promise."
"I make no such promise. Who is she? Is she hot?" Awesome asked.
"I don't know who she is, Awesome. We talked about…oceans. Hey, did you guys know that the ocean that's the polar opposite of the Arctic is literally just called 'The Southern Ocean'? Did you know that?"
"Yeah." Ellie nodded.
"Really?" Awesome asked at the same time. "Hold on, wait. It's just called…the Southern Ocean…?"
"Yep."
"That's so unoriginal. You got the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Arctic, and then…Southern. Womp wommmmp." Awesome chuckled, shaking his head. "That's funny. Geography is weird. Did the hot woman you're hanging out with now tell you that?"
"Yeah, she told me."
"Then she is hot!" Awesome pointed at him as though he'd caught him out, a big grin on his face, and he actually had sort of caught him out, but Chuck narrowed his eyes at him in a glare. "Way to go, Chuckster. Proud of you."
"Please stop heaping expectations onto me, Captain Awesome. You know how much that freaks me out."
Awesome sobered up and nodded. "No, you're right. Sorry, bro. I won't heap expectations on you. You gonna see her again, or…?"
Ellie swatted his shoulder. "Did he not just ask you not to do that? Jesus, Devon."
"Oh yeah. Right. Sorry, bro." Snorting, Chuck shook his head and began helping with the food set-up. Devon moved to grab one of the clean glasses then and turned to fill it with the filtered water. "I didn't hydrate nearly enough for that freaking epic saga our nice little jaunt ended up being."
"A saga, huh? Which one of you is Merry and which one is Pippin?"
"Merry and Pippin?" Devon sent him a dark look. "Really, Chuck? You have all the cool characters at your disposal and you give us those two?"
"Because they're a set! They're a pair! And hey, they're very cool."
"Hobbits aren't cool, bro."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, now." Chuck sent Devon a dark look back, already feeling Ellie rolling her eyes at their antics as she grabbed things and walked away from them altogether to start setting up the table. "You take that back, Awesome. Hobbits are awesome."
"The hobbits run around screaming and Legolas saves them by being a bad ass. And the dwarf guy. Gimli, that's his name. And Aragorn too. Or Gandalf swoops in to save them."
"Oh my God! The entire point of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is that these hobbits are known throughout Middle-earth to be lazy and useless, keeping to their own little hovels, eating all day long, never leaving their little townships, completely non-confrontational, hate conflict… and these brave little hobbits, they-they turn those expectations on their heads, and they rise to the occasion, and they end up being the heroes of the whole thing because of their big hearts!" Chuck argued, pushing his hands into his hair.
"Eh. But would they have gotten that far without their bodyguards? Not so sure." Chuck knew Devon was just messing with him, but it took everything in him not to take the bait. The blonde grabbed the ice bucket and dumped it out then, fixing the bag inside of it. "I think I'm Legolas and Ellie's Aragorn. For sure."
Ellie came back to put her hand on her boyfriend's bicep, squeezing and sighing dramatically. "And here I thought I was safe hooking up with a muscle-bound blond football player. I'll never escape the nerds, will I?"
Chuck laughed. "Oops. Sorry, El."
"In my defense, babe, it's Lord of the Rings. That is a solid freaking story with incredible characters. The world building alone is unsurpassed." Devon shrugged.
"I'm so proud," Chuck muttered, sighing dramatically for effect. "My nerd in training."
"Don't you fucking train him," Ellie said, pointing at him in warning, amusement in her face.
"I'm getting ice. Anybody need a snack from the vending machine or anything?" Devon tucked the bucket under his arm.
"No, thanks."
When he left, Chuck spun to face his sister. "Okay, Awesome is a little too difficult to talk around with this stuff because he makes everything sexual—"
"He really does, doesn't he?" Ellie hummed, a smug look on her face.
"Ew. No. Stop that."
She giggled.
"I don't want that kind of pressure on my shoulders. But you tend to be a lot more chill because you know I overthink shit and get caught up in my head, and I appreciate that about you."
"Okay, just get to the point, Chuck, because if you don't want Devon to be a part of this conversation, the ice machine isn't that far away."
"Right. Good point. The other day, I saw her when I went down to the lobby. They have a bar that serves coffee, food, and drinks. And I thought it'd be nice to—That doesn't matter," he rushed, seeing Ellie's impatient look. "There was only one other person sitting in there, and it was this…woman. And she was on her laptop, drinking some coffee. And really, really pretty. Like, ten thousand leagues out of my league pretty." Ellie gave him a glare for that, and he knew she hated when he dressed himself down, but it just felt like an objective fact that this woman was out of his league, and probably every dude's league, except for maybe a Captain Awesome type of guy. "And I don't know what in the hell came over me. I really don't know. If I'd had too much coffee or if being on vacation and being four hundred miles away from the Buy More filled me with this feeling of…security? Or confidence that I usually don't have? I don't know what it was. But I got up and I walked over to her…"
"You approached a woman in a bar?" Ellie asked, her green eyes widening.
"Yeah! Totally out of left field, right?"
"A little bit. But I'm intrigued. Continue. Hurry up!" she hissed, glancing at the door and gently slapping him on his wrist.
"Right. Um. So I approached her and I asked if she might want to just sit, have some coffee, and chat."
"Wow, Chuck…okay…"
"I know. I know, I know. Crazy! But I made sure to give her an out, and I told her that I completely understood if she was working on something and didn't want to be interrupted. I told her to just tell me and I'd leave her be, head back to my table, and that'd be it. But I just…I couldn't not at least try. I don't know why I couldn't, but I just couldn't."
"And?"
"Well, she…was really nice about it. Super polite. But…well…basically…"
"She said no."
"No thank you but still no."
Ellie sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Well…don't take it too hard, Chuck, huh?" She rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "She probably had a lot of work she was doing and it had nothing to do with you."
"No, that's the thing. I did exactly what I said, I walked away, I sat down at the table I'd been at before I miraculously got all this confidence, and I went back to reading my comic book. And then just…out of the blue…she started talking to me." Ellie's eyes widened. "No, I know. Trust me. I was shocked. But I just…talked back. And then she got up and came over to my table, asked if she could sit, I-I was like pfft yeah of course and she did and we just…chatted."
"Wait, so she said no…and then…changed her mind…" Ellie said slowly.
"Yeah. Just like that." He shrugged. "It was…unexpected."
"How long did you chat?"
"It had to be over an hour."
"What?!"
"Yeah. And it wasn't…" He grinned as he thought about it. "It didn't have to be anything more than just that. Two people chatting. We just sat there talking, and it was mostly about nothing. We didn't get deep or share a whole lot about ourselves. I didn't even think to ask her name!" he chuckled. "We were just two strangers talking and it felt really good. No expectations, no overtones or-or for that matter undertones. Just a nice chat."
Ellie smiled and crossed her arms. "Wow. That sounds kinda nice."
"It was. So today you two went to the bakery and I strolled out to the beach because the weather's warm, and I was sending Morgan pics of the view and all that, and I hear her call out, and there she is just sitting there on the beach. So I sat next to her and we chatted again."
"Same thing?"
"Same thing. I've never experienced anything like this, El. I don't feel a burning need to make it anything more than just…this. Um, but since Devon's not back yet, I will say that she's kind of amazing. I-I don't know much more about her at this point than that her name is Sarah. She seems not to want to share a lot, which is totally fine."
"You're a stranger."
"Yeah, I get that. But she's nice, she's smart, she's funny. Super sharp wit, I mean, it just emanates from her. And this is the part I don't want Devon hearing." Suddenly, he heard Devon approach the door, the key slipping in, the deedle of the door unlocking. "El, she's gorgeous," he hissed.
His sister widened her eyes, a large smile on her face, even as her boyfriend walked into the suite and held the bucket of ice above his head in a rendition of Rafiki with Simba the cub. "The ciiiiiircle of liiiiiiiiife," he sang, twisting his face up dramatically.
"You doofus. Just bring the ice over here," Ellie giggled, and she sent Chuck a significant look.
It felt really good, telling his sister. And he loved Devon, but God, he couldn't handle having the guy tie weights to him the way he did when romance came anywhere near him. Not about this.
He was having fun just sitting around talking with Sarah and he didn't want any other stuff, in whatever form, invading into this comfortable, fun space they'd sort of created for one another to fit into.
And he would try not to yearn for the next time he saw her and got to sit beside her and talk again. About nothing at all. Hear her laugh, watch her blue eyes light up. He would try not to yearn.
He was going to try. Really hard. Not to yearn.
}o{
She stepped out and shut her door, holding back a yawn. None of that, she warned herself. She wasn't going to stay in bed all morning every single day. With all of the food she was eating, she needed to keep exercising. Sure, she wasn't going to have to stay in CIA shape if she wasn't in the CIA anymore, but she liked how being in shape like this made her feel. Powerful, strong, ready for anything.
That wasn't something she'd ever let go of, no matter how far away she got from the agency. She needed this control. She'd needed it even before the CIA snatched her up from her home as a teenager.
But then she turned, ready to start her early morning jog through this beach fog, and spotted a man burst around the corner of the building and skid to a stop, hunching forward to put his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths, before he straightened up to his full, tall height and trotted up the small steps to one of the hotel doors.
No way.
"Morning!" she chirped, waving when he spun as if she'd startled him bad. Oops. "S-Sorry. Didn't mean to freak you out."
"Oh. Oh no you didn't—Hey! Hi."
"That where you're staying?" she asked, gesturing to the door. He was just on the other side of the walkway, but two doors down. He was her neighbor apparently. Because of course he was.
"Oh. Yeah. This-This is mine. Ours. Our suite, yeah."
"You okay?" she asked then. He looked confused as he wandered back down the steps and leaned against the railing. "You kinda tore around the corner like a hell dog was chasing you."
He cleared his throat, then glanced over his shoulder in the direction he'd come from. "Oh, that? That—No, I'm good. I always…um…finish my runs in a sprint. Good for the ticker, ya know? Heh." He thumped himself on the chest with his closed fist. "You…in one of these?" He pointed behind her.
She gestured up at her room. "Ta daaaa."
"No way. We're neighbors, huh?"
"Sort of. I guess so."
"Hope you don't mind me saying it, but that's kinda rad."
Sarah giggled, enjoying the big grin on his face. "It is kinda rad."
He glanced over his shoulder again and she saw relief on his face or something close to it. Like he was relieved that dog from hell didn't round the corner after him, like he'd outrun it and lost it.
"You sure you're good?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. She couldn't think why anyone, or anything would chase this guy, but her spy sense went off anyway. If she had to kick somebody's ass to get them off his back, for whatever reason, she would.
"Yeah, totally good. Thanks. How are you?" He came down the steps and approached tentatively, sticking one hand in the pocket of his exercise sweats.
"Oh, fine. Thanks for asking. Not much changed since yesterday when you saw me last. Found out this place makes good Brussel sprouts, though. They cook 'em with bacon."
"Heeey niiiiice. Is that one of the restaurants off the lobby? Or room service."
"Room service."
"Okay, good to know. I might have to order some today."
"You should."
"Do you wanna go get some coffee?" he blurted then, and she widened her eyes. His face changed as something must've occurred to him then, and he thunked himself in the forehead with the heel of his palm. "God. Duh. You're in jogging clothes. You're going on a jog. I'm sorry. Scratch that."
She really wanted to get coffee with him instead. She really, really did. But she hadn't just had Brussel sprouts yesterday. She'd also finished off a massive slab of perfectly cooked medium-well steak. This run was necessary. On top of all of the extra energy she woke up with. Or, more like nerves, honestly. She'd woken up in a cold sweat, Ryker holding that child, the baby in one hand, a knife in the other. Horrific nightmares all night long.
"We'll raincheck maybe. I know where you live after all. Hehe."
Sarah raised her eyebrows and lifted up her middle finger. He looked surprised for a second and she wondered if she'd miscalculated, maybe he didn't remember that part of their conversation.
But then he chuckled and winced. "No, you're right. That was creepy. Super creepy. Sorry. Forget I said that." He held up his hands apologetically.
She grinned teasingly and dropped her hand back to her side. So he did remember.
Thank God. That would've been pretty rude out of context.
"I actually…I'd love to grab coffee, but I need to get this run in. I've got some pent up energy."
"Of course. I totally get it. Um…after? If you want," he rushed, thrusting his hand out. She didn't know why but she glanced back at her room, thinking, and then she turned back to him. "Or…" he said. Before she could answer, knowing she was taking a while and was probably putting him off, he continued. "I could run with you."
Sarah smoothed her hands down the front of her zip up hoodie. "Oh. Um…"
"Never mind. Forget I said that too. Um…"
"No, it's just that…uh, didn't you just get done with your own run? You…want to go on another one with me? Isn't that a bit much? I mean…for your body?"
Chuck shrugged. "Nah. Totally good. My body can handle it." He smoldered a little at her and crossed his arms at his chest, very clearly making a joke at his own expense. It was refreshing, considering the sorts of men she'd been subjected to—in her family, in dating, her peers at the agency, and marks during missions—and their inability to see past their own egos or take themselves a little less seriously.
"Oh, can it?" she giggled. "Fine. If you come with me, though, I should warn you that I can get kind of intense with my runs."
He blinked at her and tilted his head. "What's that mean?"
"I go fast."
"Ahhhh. Gotcha. Speedy Sarah. Well, just so you know, I ran track in high school, so I'll be just fine."
"Did you?" She raised an impressed eyebrow.
"No, but I was forced to run laps during P.E. Physical Education. Same diff."
Sarah threw her head back in laughter. He got her with that one. "I'm not going to stop you if you really want to run with me, but you gotta know, I think you're a little nuts for it."
"Noted."
Shrugging at him, she flicked her head in the direction behind her and began jogging backwards, a little jauntily, because maybe that's how she felt all of a sudden. Jaunty. "Comin'?"
"Yep, I'm comin'."
She turned to face forward and waited for him to trot up beside her. She didn't push her usual fast pace until a few minutes in, and that was when things started to go downhill.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Appreciate you folks and appreciate all the reviews you've given me so far too.
-SC