Posted August 19, 2019

A/N: Why would Sarah Bartowski allow a bug in her bedroom or want a fake picture to remind her that Chuck didn't take her to Comic-Con a couple weeks after she met him? She was off on a mission, but wouldn't want to memorialize it.

October 30, 2007

"Hey, Chuck," Sarah happily answered her cellphone.

"Sarah, please don't get mad," Chuck whispered into his cellphone.

"Are you meeting me at work late so we'll have a late dinner?"

"No, that's not it."

"Are you going to not eat because you've already had dinner at IHOP?"

"What? How do you know where I am?"

"Chuck, I'm right outside in the parking lot. I was staying at work late, like I normally do when you are coming over to review the dailies, but I decided to offer you a ride to dinner, figuring we'd check the new reports later see if you flashed on anything. However, when I was out in the parking lot in front of my office, I saw you fight off an attack from a guy in a Halloween costume. I assume it wasn't a real gun."

"Water pistol."

"You were lucky. I was too far away for a throwing knife or even my gun. If I had a rifle, the guy, Laszlo I assume, would be dead."

"Yes. That would've been messy."

"Do you need me to come in and subdue him? Or if you insist, I could wait for backup. Casey is three minutes out. Where exactly are you?"

"The restroom. I drank two refills so it would be more believable when I got up to go here."

"You're taking what I told you too seriously—the part about incorporating real life details into cover stories. You don't have to do something like that, creating a real life detail, in order to make a cover story more believable. You're going to have to leave in a minute, because otherwise it'll be weird."

"In a couple minutes. I do actually have to go."

"Ok. Hurry. After you pay the bill, we'll apprehend Laszlo in the parking lot."

"Sounds good. See you soon."

Sarah heard a flushing sound.

"You can take me someplace and watch me eat after we process Laszlo. But please tell me you're going to wash her hands."

The sink came on. "Of course. That was the automatic flusher."

"Is this your way of saying you disagree with my rule of shutting the bathroom door?"

"No. Not at all. I just really needed to go, and I didn't want to hide the fact that I once again ran into this guy, so I didn't wait to call."

"At least you're washing your hands. Thank you, and I love you."

"I know."

"Really, a Star Wars reference? Please don't fall into a carbonite freezing chamber on your way out. When you leave the restaurant, make sure you get clear when we move in."

"Just when I think it isn't possible, you get a reference like that, making me love you even more. I'm so happy we did that Star Wars marathon last weekend. Bye bye."

Midday, October 31, 2007

Sarah and Chuck sat at a table in a diner for lunch. The night before, Sarah only had time to eat some carrot and celery sticks from the Buy More fridge. Chuck had put them there that morning, so they weren't from the Mystery Crisper. To make up for the meager dinner, Chuck brought her breakfast in bed and took her out to lunch."

Sarah was just about to finish her cheeseburger with extra pickles when she tilted her head to listen to the music quietly playing in the background through the restaurant's speakers. She said, "Seriously? Isn't this a little on the nose for a place serving food?"

Chuck said, "I don't know. Are you hungry? Hungry like the wolf? I know that isn't the most complimentary phrase, and you're more lethal than a wolf. You know last night when I was trying to stall Laszlo with pancakes, we started talking about Bond films. Duran Duran sang the title song for A View To a Kill, the same group that sang this song.

Sarah said, "Did you call the radio station to have them play 'Wake Up' this morning?"

"No, but Arcade Fire's music is like an auditory aphrodisiac." Chuck raised his eyebrows up and down.

"Stop that. You shouldn't use your eyebrows like that in public. We both know what happened this morning would've happened even if no music was playing on the radio."

Their short, brunette waitress returned to the table and asked if they needed anything else.

Sarah said, "No, I'm good. The cheeseburger was wonderful—better than In-N-Out's. I'm leaving in a minute, but my husband is staying behind to meet a friend. He'll most likely want to order. Thank you for a great lunch."

The waitress smiled and went to other tables.

Chuck said, "You do have a point about the song this morning. I didn't call the radio station as part of some sneaky plan to seduce the hot blonde in my bed."

"Well, for your next punishment the next time you get out of the car, at least you didn't have to sit through a Bond movie. I wouldn't do that to you. Oh, you probably like those. Bond films have a certain reputation among female CIA agents. They make male spies think it's ok to act like cocky jerks. The next time that you want to watch one, I'll watch Star Wars with you again, instead."

"Every time? I think I want to watch every Bond movie next month."

Sarah called that bluff with a look. "If you'd rather spend over twelve hours in front of the TV watching a movie marathon about something that happened a long time ago each time instead of doing something else…"

"You're right. There's something else we could be doing. We should do that."

Sarah finished her last fries and said, "For this party tonight… I made my views on the James Bond persona clear, but as long as you don't act like him, I'll be fine with what we are wearing. It'll be fun to dress up without wearing an ear wick."

"Are you sure? We could wear the other Halloween costumes."

"No. We talked about this. If you go as Han Solo and I wear that gold bikini to go as a blonde Princess Leia, Morgan will insist on going as Chewbacca. He's too short, and it'll look weird. We don't want everyone laughing behind his back and asking us why we're with an Ewok. It'll be hard enough for him considering you pulled out of the sandworm costume partnership."

"You didn't want to dance in it with me."

"That's not how I want to dance with you. We don't need to rub it in that you have a different person you are partnering with this year."

"That's probably for the best. Are you really are ok with what we are wearing?"

"Sure. Casey's not going to be there, so we don't have to worry about him making snide remarks asking which one of us is the spy and which one of us is the professional when we all know I'm the professional spy. It's Halloween. We can role play. For you, please no fake English accent. You are Charles Carmichael, not James Bond, and I'm Carmichael's girl. I won't use an English, Australian, or Eastern European accent either. Also, while we know you are Carmichael, no telling anyone you are Charles Carmichael, because the fact that the alias is active is top secret. Let people think you are James Bond or some other spy. Just don't treat me like a disposable accessory, and I'll hang on your arm. One more thing. Your gun will be an unloaded tranq gun because that was easier to get, rather than searching several toy stores. Don't go passing it around. It looks real because it actually is real."

"Got it. It will be interesting to see if your outfit is more revealing than Ellie's."

"What? Why would you care what she is wearing?"

"I'm her brother. I care that she is wearing too little in her 'Eve' costume. At least it has more clothing than Devon's 'Adam' costume. You could be dressed in a potato sack, and everyone would still drool all over the place. It's my cross I have to bear as your husband." Chuck put his hands over his heart, and Sarah lightly swatted him for teasing. "We both get to 'reveal' more of each other later. I can still wish my sister and her boyfriend would wear turtlenecks."

Sarah gave Chuck a saucy smile. She stood to leave and gave him a goodbye peck on the lips. "Morgan's here. Be gentle. Good luck on your interview this afternoon. See you after work." She leaned in again and gave him another quick kiss.

Sarah met Morgan at the door and gave him a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek. Morgan slid into the booth taking the spot that Sarah had previously occupied. This friend-to-friend conversation was the point of Chuck coming to this neutral location. He wanted to make sure Morgan really was ok going to tonight's party without his best buddy.

"What's good here, boss?" Morgan asked. He didn't seem concerned.

"Don't jinx it, Morgan. I don't have the assistant manager interview for two hours, and I heard corporate sent in someone to conduct the interview."

Morgan waved him off, "It's inevitable."

At that moment, the waitress returned to the booth to take the order of the new hungry patron. Morgan's eyes met the young woman's, and they stared at each other for a few seconds. Chuck looked back and forth between them. Sometimes was just obvious. Morgan shook out his head and asked the woman with the long brown, wavy hair what she recommended. After she mentioned the club sandwich had bacon, Morgan agreed to that immediately. She smiled as she wrote down his order.

After the waitress left, Morgan said, "I see why you wanted to come here. Well, not you. You already have your ultimate woman, but for the rest of us who remain lone wolfish, this is the place where all the fine women are."

Seeing Chuck's confused expression, Morgan continued, "I know it's not Benihana's, like Jeff and Lester swear by, but I really don't trust their opinion of how good happy hour is. I'm talking about our hot waitress. I'm pretty sure Carina isn't coming back after she blew my chances with Ellie by kissing me goodbye in front of her. This one's better anyway."

Chuck said, "You do realize you never had a chance with Carina—or Ellie. Right?"

Morgan disregarded Chuck's assessment. "She's old news. Oh, could you please tell Sarah to stop doing what she just did."

"Stop what?"

"Stop trying to arrest my heart with a friendly goodbye hug and kiss. I know you told her I'm family, but by that logic, Ellie is family too, and she has that no-touching policy. As much as I don't like the policy, it does serve a purpose. It helps me breathe normally when I encounter beautiful angels that haven't made up a reason to despise me, like the one we just saw."

Chuck kept his mouth shut, but in a tight closed-mouth smile. Some delusions were safer to keep in place. It looked like Morgan had found a safer target, one that wouldn't toy with his affections to complete a mission. Right at that moment, the object of Morgan's interest returned with a toasted sandwich.

"I hope you'll like this. Is it good?" she asked.

Morgan's eyes were big as he stared at the sandwich. He took a bite. The moan he made expressing his pleasure was a little over the top, but the waitress lightly chuckled.

As Morgan chewed, continuing to show is satisfaction, Chuck said, "Pardon my friend. I think you just made his day. You brought him a sandwich with bacon."

The waitress continued smiling. "Sorry, I just started last week. I'm working part time here as I go to school at UCLA. Since I haven't been here long, I don't know the names of the regulars. I'm Alex." She pointed to her name tag. Her eyes immediately went to the silent man across from Chuck. Morgan's eyes were closed as he chewed his bite, savoring it.

Chuck said, "That's ok. We haven't eaten here before. UCLA is where my sister went. I'm Chuck. The woman here earlier was my wife, Sarah. This is my best friend, Morgan." Morgan just stared at the waitress with an amazed, but happy look. Chuck said with a little laugh, "I think you'll be seeing him back here in the future."

Morgan silently nodded. Alex's smile grew bigger to show her teeth.

Alex asked Chuck, since he seemed the one not struck mute, "What brings you here, besides the food? With your wife leaving and your friend staying, this seems like you use it as a meeting place."

Chuck answered, "We're planning costumes for a Halloween party tonight. My sister and her boyfriend are throwing one in an open courtyard at their apartment complex. A bunch of people will be there. Sarah and I live in the same apartments. The last few years, Morgan and I have gone in a two-person Shai-hulud costume, but now Sarah and I are married. This year, she and I are going as a spy couple." Chuck looked to Morgan to direct his next statement, "I'm making sure Morgan understands and has his own costume."

Alex said, "You two went as one of the sandworms in Dune? That sounds really cool. I would've liked to have seen that. I'm sure he has something just as spectacular for tonight."

Morgan mouth dropped open at Alex's remark. This woman knew Dune. After a couple seconds he recovered and turned to ask Chuck, "You and Sarah definitely aren't going as Han and Leia? I guess I could still wear the Chewie outfit and go solo."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Chuck asked.

"We'll since I'm going solo and you won't be Han, I could go as Han Solo, I have clothes at home I could put together for a costume, and I thought you'd use my replica Han Solo blaster anyway. Too bad Sarah is so tall. Otherwise this lovely lady could use her costume and go as Leia."

Alex immediately asked, "Morgan, are you asking me to go with you?" The question wasn't said with one of those "what are you doing" tones. She genuinely seemed to be excited by the idea.

Morgan's brain caught up with what he said, "Uh, well, I just thought you'd look unbelievable in the Princess Leia slave girl outfit. You don't have to go with me. You probably already have plans. Han didn't have a beard anyway."

"I don't have plans, and I like the beard." She reached out and lightly scratched Morgan's bread. Chuck had figured out there was an attraction between them, but she actually touched him. Alex asked, "Do you want to go with me? Going with you sounds like a really fun thing to do for Halloween."

"Who wouldn't want to go with you, except for people like Chuck because he's married? The problem is Sarah is very tall like Chuck. I don't think her costume would fit you."

Alex patted her hand on Morgan's which was resting on the table. "That's ok. I have my own gold bikini outfit. I got it for the one day I went to Comic-Con last summer, but chickened out wearing it since I hadn't been before and was going by myself. I didn't want to look like I was trying to pick someone up because that's not why I went. It's just the biggest show in the area, so I had to try it once. I was a fun experience. Going to a party with you as Han Solo would be a perfect excuse to actually use the costume."

Alex wrote on her order pad and ripped off a sheet. "I'd love to go with you. Here's my number."

Morgan stared at the sheet with the phone number. He looked up in wonderment. "And I thought the sandwich choice was good. This is the best thing that has happened to me in weeks."

"So far," Alex said with a wink.

Morgan gulped. "I will pick you up at 7."

Alex nodded. "Nice to meet you Morgan…and Chuck. See you tonight." She turned and left tapping on her pad with a pleasant smile on her face.

Chuck just sat there in shock. It looked like his getting married gave his friend some confidence that good things could happen to him, too—confidence so a woman came on to him instead of fleeing. Something about this woman made Morgan's entire face light up. She seemed to genuinely like him back. Her interest in him had already lasted a few minutes longer than most women who weren't spies playing a cover. It was almost impossible for Chuck not to get hopes up. If Morgan and Alex started dating, Morgan would have someone to keep him away from his sister and out of the spy world.

They'd have to figure out if Morgan was bringing her on his handlebars or if they she was driving.

A/N: Bunkering Chuck would never be an option for a super-agent's husband—not if they didn't want the agent tearing through security of government facilities like the jungles of Thailand. However, if you want to read a great story of what happens after Chuck is put in a bunker, read ninjaVanish's "Chuck & Sarah Vs The Bunker." It was started before season 3, so before "Chuck vs Phase Three" aired. It's a great story and makes that Thailand comparison I made seem reasonable. That story is the middle of a trilogy, but was written first, like Episodes IV through VI. Its longer prequel, "Chuck & Sarah Vs Themselves," picks up right after the season 2 finale and has nothing to do with a bunker, but I highly recommend it as well. It's more of a direct AU of the first half of season 3, starting immediately after the season 2 finale.

What about Anna? Never trust a woman whose name is a palindrome. If you drop in one married couple, everything looks different. Anna is never on Morgan's radar because he was inspired to grow up faster. This story is a "what if Chuck and Sarah were already married?" AU. That makes it a Charah story not a Morgan/Alex one. However, it's intriguing to think of Morgan and Alex being inexplicably attracted to each other without knowing who Casey is.

Songs:
"A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran
"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
"Wake Up" by Arcade Fire