AN1 Hey. I hope you all had a good weekend :)


The Spy and the Soldier

Chapter Nine, The Spy vs the Troubled Mind


Washington D.C.

Six days since the upload

10:00 hours

Chuck jumped into the pool of the hotel he was staying at with Sarah. Remaining underwater at the deepest end of the pool for as long as he could, he eventually rose to the surface after his ability to stay submerged without taking in air came to an end.

Now at surface level, he proceeded to cough briefly to restore his airways.

Chuck was feeling extremely relaxed this morning because this was the first time since he had departed his base at Fort Bragg that he had managed to obtain free time to be alone in his own company and to just do whatever he wanted at his own pace without having to be babysat.

Chuck had managed to sneak this period of alone time just a little earlier on. He'd had breakfast with Agent Walker, and as soon as she had departed for the bathroom, and around a minute after he had heard the shower turn on, he had hastily informed her that he was heading to the pool and that he'd return in around an hour. After making his declaration to her, Chuck hadn't waited around for an answer, and he promptly departed to the pool to spend some much-needed quality time in his own company. He was sure that he would receive an earful from her at the very least as soon as he was next in her presence, but that was the furthest thing from being his concern at the present time.

Moving to rest against the side of the pool for a moment, Chuck started to relax and stretch his shoulders. This is exactly what he had needed.

Deciding he had had enough of resting against the edge of the pool, he pushed himself forward, and he began to swim multiple lengths of the pool for several minutes.

Arriving back at the deepest end several minutes later after swimming six lengths of the pool, Chuck took up a resting position against the edge of the pool for a brief moment before he decided to submerge himself underwater. Grabbing hold of the edge of the pool, Chuck pushed himself as far down as he could, and he let go of the edge before he allowed himself to float back up to the surface, and he came up for air.

Coughing slightly while spitting out water, Chuck was about to push himself forward to continue his physical activity. However, he stopped dead as Sarah entered the poolside from the changing area, and she did not look happy.

Ah, crap. Oh well, at least I managed to swim six lengths on my own. It's a start!

Chuck continued to glance towards Agent Walker as she paced with purpose towards his vicinity. Chuck didn't need his special forces training or military career to know when somebody was on the warpath, and that's precisely the state she was in.

Maybe I should swim to the other end of the pool and get out of dodge. If a nuke is about to go off, don't wait around! Get out of town while you can!

Opting to remain stationary, and not flee, he moved back against the edge of the pool, and he turned to face in the direction that Sarah was coming towards him from. If she didn't look so pissed off right now, he might have taken in and registered her appearance in the bikini that she was wearing.

Sarah soon arrived in Chuck's vicinity, and she began to hover over him close to the edge of the pool.

"Chuck, what the hell do you think you are doing?!" she snapped in a deafening whisper, and she began to shake her head at him.

Moving his elbow to rest on the edge of the pool, he continued to glance at her, and he said, "I'm relaxing, Sarah. You should try it. Surely you have some hobbies and interests that you like?"

Chuck's comment appeared to make Sarah more irritated further still.

"Chuck, I don't appreciate you storming off on me without even giving me the chance to reply to you!" she snapped as she glared daggers into his eyes.

Chuck broke eye contact with Sarah briefly because that's precisely what he had done. "Me? Rushing off? I don't know what you're talking about," he deflected as he suddenly found it hard to make eye contact with the intimidating stare that Sarah was emitting towards him.

Sarah continued to shake her head at him in a very unamused way, and her cheeks appeared red in anger. "Chuck, I've seen your convincing face when you're lying, and this isn't one of them! Does the 156th Logistics Company sound familiar to you right now?"

Chuck gulped. He knew it was pointless to continue this ridiculous charade over something as simple as sneaking out for a bit of time in his own company. "Ok, you know what? I can't be bothered lying. That's exactly what I did, and I don't regret it for a single second."

Sarah continued to shake her head at him, and her frustration did not appear to dissipate. "Chuck, when will you follow your orders?"

Chuck scoffed briefly. He had been given no such order that prohibited him from the ability to spend some time in his own company during his downtime. "Orders? I don't recall any mission briefing stating that I need you in my shadow every day from dawn till dusk, unless somebody else was at that briefing instead of me, and I just imagined it?"

"And what about the part by Beckman yesterday, Chuck, where she told you to live your cover like your life depends on it?" Sarah shot back immediately.

"How was I not doing that by simply coming to the pool on my own for an hour, Sarah?!" Chuck fired back as he started to shake his own head, as he too began to become frustrated as the partners continued their argument.

"Well, for starters, because you rushed out of our room like there was a bomb in it without giving me a chance to talk to you, Chuck!" Sarah snapped back in her continued loud whispering tone, and she continued to shake her head in frustration at him.

"Sarah, I'm sorry, but that makes no sense whatsoever. People can be in a relationship and still do their own thing without being joined at the hip 24 freaking hours per day! For all anybody knows, you just don't like the water, and FYI, it's looking that way right now anyway as I'm in here, and you're up there!"

There was a brief pause in the discussion, and Sarah evidently had no response to give him back.

Sighing, Chuck said, "Sarah, I think you're taking this assignment too literally."

Frustration immediately seeped out from Sarah once more as she gritted her teeth, and Chuck began to wince inside in anticipation of latest her response.

Gazing at her, he observed as she arched herself down closer to him.

"I don't appreciate being told how I should operate, Chuck!" she snapped, and she waggled her finger at him.

"And I don't appreciate somebody starting World War Three with me so early into the morning all because I took an hour to myself on my day off to just relax, but it appears that I can't even do that!" Chuck snapped back, and he shook his head in frustration. If this is how things were going to be for the next three years, then Chuck would be lucky if he didn't end up in a psychiatric facility because he was sure that without the ability to have at least some time to himself, his mind would explode.

Having had no further response from Sarah, Chuck took in a breath of air before he immediately puffed out a sigh. "Look, Sarah," he started, but he paused until she made eye contact with him again. "You're doing far more right now to damage our cover than I did. And before you bite my head off and continue on with World War Three once more, it's important you hear me out on this, ok?"

Sarah nodded, and her confirmation that she would hear him out caused Chuck to smile at her for the first time since she had arrived at the poolside.

"Thank you. Sarah, we are supposed to be in love. I've already told you that I'm finding that more awkward than you, but it is what it is. With that being said, we don't look to be very much in love right now! You're standing over me and blowing a gasket at me all because I came to the pool, for god sake!" he whispered loudly as he shook his head at her once more.

Sarah swallowed air, and she broke her gaze from Chuck, and Chuck followed her glance as she began to observe some of the other people present at the facility; before her glance finished, and she fixated on Chuck once more.

"Ok, Chuck, you're right. I'm not helping things right now, but I don't appreciate the stunt that you pulled, and I found it to be extremely childish and totally unprofessional," she complained.

Chuck took a moment to process her point before he nodded in concession. "Ok, maybe it was childish, and probably unprofessional too. So I now regret how I did it, but not why I did it. But can we please move on from it now?" he asked.

Sarah nodded affirmatively, which caused Chuck to grin at her. Though he could tell there was still some tension in her and that she was having a hard time moving on from the incident, but Chuck had no care to argue at this hour of the morning, and especially not on his day off!

Though he had just the perfect idea in mind to get his partner to relax.

"Great! So here comes the part where you jump into the pool, and we relax and have a good time and we sell our cover. You're here now, so there's no alternative."

Sarah broke eye contact with him briefly, and she moved to look up at the ceiling before she returned her gaze towards him. "Chuck, I didn't come down here to swim, and I don't particularly want to this morning," she protested.

He replied instantly, "Sarah, if you're really going to insist on babysitting me, then I insist on you jumping into this pool. You're making me feel uncomfortable standing up there while I'm in here. Plus, you're standing out a mile. You don't come to the pool in a bikini with your boyfriend just to stay dry and hover over me. So either you jump in, or I'm getting out right now to throw you in!"

Sarah began to smile at him for the first time. "I'd like to see you try," she declared.

"Here it comes! Watch me!" Chuck replied as he immediately moved to attempt to climb out of the pool to follow through on his threat.

However, he paused his actions because Sarah had sprung forward, and she proceeded to jump over his head, and she finished inside the water.

Grinning, Chuck abandoned his position against the edge of the pool, and he pushed himself back away from the edge, and he fell back into the water as he began to float on his back.

Sarah soon emerged from out of the depths of the water near to his position in the pool.

"That's better. I was beginning to think you didn't know how to swim," he teased with his grin still formed.

Sarah returned his warm glance. "Well, now you know."

Still grinning, he shook his head. "I'll need to see further evidence before I will be able to conclusively determine whether you can swim or not. If you need me to save you from drowning, all you need to do is call out. Though with you supposed to be looking out for me, that would be a strange shifting of events."

Sarah suppressed a laugh. "Shut up," she said cutely.

However, Chuck was unwilling to cease his teasing toward her. "Actually, Sarah, I'm quite surprised that you own more than spy clothes. Though I guess you kind of have to have a bikini or two here and there, otherwise you'd be forced into jumping in here in your business suit and heels!"

Sarah immediately shot Chuck a glare, which caused Chuck to laugh softly. "Don't push it," she warned, smirking.

"Or what will you do about it?" Chuck asked while grinning mischievously.

"You'll find out," she replied, holding her smirk.

"You can't hurt me, Sarah. It's your job to protect me. In fact, I'd say I have a free pass to wind you up and do as much as I want to you without you being able to respond," he continued to torment her with a wide grin of friendliness.

"Just try it, Chuck," she warned.

"Ok, I will," Chuck replied before he immediately proceeded to extend out his hands, and he pushed them forcefully towards Sarah, which sent a tidal wave of water right at Sarah's face.

Sarah immediately began to cough before she shot Chuck a distasteful glance.

Chuck started to chuckle in great satisfaction at his actions towards her.

"Did you have to do that?" she asked as she shook her head to let him know how unimpressed she was with him right now.

He nodded. "Yeah, and I'm gonna do it again."

Sarah continued to shake her head at him, but a smile threatened to escape. "I'm looking after a baby," she declared.

He furiously began to nod as a mischievous grin formed. "Yeah, you are," he said before he immediately once more sent a tidal wave of water at Sarah's face.

"Chuck, if you do that to me just one more time!" Sarah warned as she started to eye him up in a similar kind of stare to how a predator had caught sight of its prey.

Chuckling, Chuck proceeded to splash Sarah again.

"Right, that's it!" Sarah said before she pounced forward in an attempt to grab hold of Chuck, but he had already moved, and he began to swim away from her.

Sarah instantly gave chase.

The partners quickly made short work of the length of the pool, which was fifty metres. Arriving at the shallow end, Chuck attempted to climb up out of the pool to escape Sarah, but he had been unable to put enough distance between himself and Sarah during the swim. Sarah lunged up to grab hold of Chuck just as he had almost successfully climbed out, and she sharply pulled him back down, and they fell back into the water.

With a firm grip of Chuck, Sarah proceeded to wrap her arms around him, and she pushed them both under the water.

However, Chuck was able to instantly counteract the motion, and he expertly had managed to turn himself to face Sarah. Once he had turned, they started to grapple and tussle under the water while staring at and laughing with each other the entire time for almost a minute until they began to run out of air. Reluctantly, they loosened their grip on each other, and they rose to the surface.

Arriving at the surface, they both started to cough away for several seconds until they restored their airways to a level of normalcy once more.

Composed once more and floating just inches away from Sarah, Chuck said, "See, that was fun, Sarah. Admit it."

Gazing into his eyes, a smile formed. "Ok. It was," she admitted.

Chuck grinned affectionately towards her. "Sarah, look..." he paused for a short moment to collect his thoughts. "I don't need protection when we're not on a mission. You don't need to act like a secret service agent around me when we're off duty. I've had similar training to you. Look… Our cover is boyfriend and girlfriend, and if you were just sitting at the poolside watching over me, and we aren't having fun together, then our cover is blown, and it's a far greater risk to 'the mission' than you relaxing and having a good time. And if you won't do that for yourself, and have fun, then at least do it for the mission you care so much about. Now, am I right, or am I right?"

Sarah averted her glance away from him briefly as she puffed out a sigh. "You're right," she conceded, returning her gaze towards him.

"Great!" he said, holding his grin. "So let's have lots of fun together! Though, for the record, a boyfriend and girlfriend at the pool together should be kissing. But don't worry, I'm not gonna make you do that. And I'm certainly not gonna be forced into kissing my partner."

"Forced? Would it be so bad?" Sarah teased as the partners held their glance from where they remained idle inside the water.

Smirking, Chuck said, "I'm sure I could suffer through it."

Sarah took a moment to process his words as they held their glance before she said, "Me too."

The conversation between the two of them stalled as Chuck and Sarah processed what they had just said, and they held their gaze before Chuck suddenly moved towards Sarah, and he grabbed hold of her.

Sarah instantly panicked at his actions towards her, but she had no time for further thought or to query the action because had Chuck pushed them both back underwater, and they tumbled sideways as they began to tussle together once more.

Arriving out of the water sometime later, they shared a warm gaze. Luckily for the both of them, the time they had spent underwater had allowed them to cast aside their former topic of conversation, and Chuck soon after swam to the deep end, and Sarah followed on…

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah departed Sarah's Porsche. By the time they had left the pool, they were running very late. However, they had had a lot of fun together, and they both felt relaxed. The two partners quickly linked up with Casey, who was waiting near his vehicle outside their new place of cover.

"I could ask you both where you've been, but I already know. You were at the pool," Casey said.

"And how would you know that, Casey?" Chuck asked, frowning in puzzlement.

"I tapped into the hotel surveillance. Saw you both enter the changing area one by one, with Walker looking like a wrecking ball. What did you do to piss her off, Bartowski?" Casey asked.

Sarah immediately shot Casey a glare, which caused him to grunt.

"Actually, Case, we had a lot of fun together, so you couldn't be more wrong. Right, Sarah?" Chuck asked while gazing at Sarah with a grin.

Sarah returned his smile. "Yeah, we did."

"Ugh! I'm gonna be sick!" Casey stated, while violently shaking his head in disgust. "And just so we're clear, keep your lady feelings to yourselves around me, and if you're looking for a third to join you for a swim, I'm not your guy."

"A marine that's afraid of the water? Now I really have seen it all!" Chuck fired back as he started to chuckle.

Sarah snorted in an attempt to suppress intense laughter that threatened to erupt, while Casey grunted.

"You know, Case, there are floats, kickboards and armbands to help you with swimming. We'll have to stock Castle up with them pronto. Can't have you coming along on a water mission without the apparatus and drowning on us," Chuck continued his joke.

Sarah started to snort multiple times in succession, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep in her laughter from escaping.

"Yeah, yeah, keep it up, Bartowski. When the time comes, you'll be pleading to latch onto my back during the swim. You rangers are one dimensional. The only thing you're good at is abseiling down ropes," Casey fired back.

Chuck suppressed laughter at the exchange between the two of them. "We'll see about that, big man. The quicker we have a water mission, the better," Chuck said.

"Roger that," Casey replied, nodding his head.

Sarah shook her head over the exchange between the soldier and the marine, and the partners quickly entered their place of cover.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Before we retire for the day, I want to bring up an important thought that came to me just earlier," Chuck started, and he waited until Sarah and Casey gave him their attention from where they were seated inside Chuck's office at Carmichael Industries. "We're going to need to hire some contractors to send on most of the work that will come to this cover. It's just not plausible for the CEO and its founding members to carry out contracting work."

Sarah and Casey both nodded. "You're right, Chuck. That would most certainly look highly suspicious. We can attend meetings and conferences and things, but actual contract work will need to be carried out by people we hire. I will put the CIA immediately on it, and we can hire vetted and recently retired agents to work for us," Sarah said.

"Likewise, I'll have the NSA compile a list. Good call, Bartowski," Casey said.

Chuck smiled at his partners. "We should also branch out and hire service members recently discharged too. It would look too suspicious if every contractor was a former NSA or CIA agent. I have some connections, and I know a few guys we could give some work to without any questions being asked."

Sarah and Casey nodded once more.

"Well, I think that covers everything. We've been at it for a few hours now, and I can't think of anything else unless either of you can?" Chuck asked, glancing at Sarah and Casey.

"I'm dry of ideas. You did some good planning today, Bartowski," Casey said, nodding at Chuck.

"I have nothing further to add, either," Sarah said.

Chuck nodded at both of them, and the trio promptly rose to stand, and they began to depart the office.

Arriving outside a few minutes later, they prepared to depart for the evening. "Don't forget, Case, swimming lessons tomorrow at the hotel, bright and early!" Chuck shouted over towards Casey.

Casey turned back to glance at Chuck and Sarah, who stood at Sarah's Porsche, and he grunted before turning once more, and he quickly departed.

Turning to Sarah, Chuck grinned at her.

"You really should stop winding him up," Sarah said with a smile.

Chuck suppressed laughter. "He's just as bad as me," he protested with a smirk.

Sarah nodded. "But you shouldn't rise to it, Chuck. Let him say what he wants. You don't need to respond," she stressed.

Chuck shook his head. "Sarah, I can't do that. I have the honour of my outfit to consider!" he said, grinning.

Sarah suppressed a laugh, and she shook her head.

"What?" Chuck asked playfully.

"I didn't know soldiers could behave like such children at times," she said, suppressing laughter.

"We're all children at heart, Sarah," Chuck declared with a wide grin.

Sarah smiled affectionately at him.

x-x-x-x-x-x

With their out of hours work for the day at an end, Chuck and Sarah had decided to take in the sights of their nation's capital together, and they were strolling along a walkway. They had already visited several locations together over the past three-quarters of an hour.

They continued to walk for a few minutes more until they came to a stop at another site, and they moved to cozy up together. Sarah proceeded to take a picture of them together with the camera she was holding in her hand.

With the latest of several pictures they had taken together now complete, they pulled apart once more to put some distance between themselves.

"You know, Sarah, I've been wondering something," Chuck started.

"What is it?" Sarah asked softly.

"Should we be kissing in these photos? Would it please our masters?" he asked as a huge grin formed.

Smirking at him, she said, "Not if you value your life."

With his grin still present, Chuck shook his head, and he teased, "Oh, just great! Thanks for being a good partner, Sarah! I'm sure these cover photos would please the Sith Lord, and that's Graham if you didn't know, a heck of a lot more if they were more… personalized in nature. I think you just want me to always be in trouble with him."

Sarah shook her head, and she emitted a wide smirk towards him. "Wow, Chuck, you're sure going out of your way in your attempts at getting me to kiss you."

Still grinning, Chuck threw his arms out innocently. "Who me? Never! I'm just following orders," he joked.

"Now who is the one taking this assignment too literally, Chuck?" she asked as she beamed him a warm smile.

"I'm just working on the cover, Sarah!" Chuck joked as he pointed at her, and he started to laugh.

Sarah shared the laughter with him. "Are you hungry?" she asked once the laughter had stopped.

"Yeah, but Sarah, it's getting quite late, and I'm rather tired. If you don't mind, I'd prefer to just order something when we get back to the hotel?" he asked.

"Ok," she agreed.

They shared a warm glance before they departed for their hotel.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah entered their hotel room. Closing the door after him, Chuck turned to face Sarah.

"I'll use the bathroom first?" Sarah suggested.

Chuck nodded several times.

"Ok," Sarah said, smiling cordially at him.

"I'll order food while you're in there. Is there anything particular that you would like?" Chuck asked.

Sarah took a moment to ponder the question. "Uh, surprise me," she said eventually.

Chuck grinned. "I can do that."

Before she turned away from him, Sarah returned his warm glance, and she then moved to collect some things, before she departed for the bathroom.

Now alone in the main area of the room, Chuck ordered a large vegetarian pizza for both of them before he moved to rest on the sofa and began to watch television.

Sarah departed the bathroom sometime later. Glancing over to her for the briefest of moments, Chuck lingered his gaze towards her attire. In the days after Chuck's inappropriate remarks, Sarah had worn pajama bottoms and a top each night. However, she had resumed wearing nighties again since last night, which she had worn to bed every night leading up to Chuck's comment. His partner was extremely beautiful, of that there could be no question. He also felt an immense attraction towards her appearance. If there was such a thing as perfection, then Sarah was it. However, love was the last thing that Chuck was hoping to find on this assignment, and she had already told him the same.

Quickly snapping out of his brief ogling glance towards her, he raised his gaze to her face, and he smiled at her.

Sarah returned the smile, and she moved to sit on the end of the bed a short distance away from Chuck.

"I ordered a vegetarian pizza. I hope that's fine?" Chuck asked.

Gazing at him once more, Sarah nodded. "It is."

Chuck nodded before he proceeded to yawn, now feeling extremely tired after a long day.

"You look exhausted, Chuck," Sarah said softly.

Affording her a tired smile, he admitted, "I am."

Sarah gave him a more developed smile.

The two partners were soon alerted to room service arriving, and they both moved to stand.

"Sarah, I'll answer it. You can continue to relax," Chuck said.

Sarah nodded, and she smiled at him for his gesture towards her, despite how tired he was feeling. She appreciated it very much.

Chuck soon returned to her sight, and he moved to set down the pizza box on the bed next to her. He arched himself down to collect a plate, and Sarah moved to obtain one too.

With their plates now in hand, Sarah opened the packaging, and they each collected their food. With his plate now full, Chuck moved back to take up a position on the sofa once more.

Once seated, they shared a glance with each other again.

"Sarah, thank you for today. I've really enjoyed my day with you, and I'm sorry for how I behaved this morning," Chuck said as he managed to emit a trademark grin towards her.

Sarah returned his warm smile. "Chuck, it's ok. If somebody had to babysit me, then my reactions would probably be even worse than your own," she joked.

Sarah's comment caused the two of them to suppress cordial laughter together for a brief moment.

"It's just so hard being protected when you're used to doing the babysitting yourself," he admitted eventually.

Sarah nodded. "Chuck, I can imagine. If there is any advice I can give to you, it's this: you are the most important intelligence asset in the entire world now. You're no longer just a Captain in Delta Force. Yes, you can protect yourself, and I do not doubt your ability in the field for a single second. But Chuck, it's no longer just yourself that needs to be protected anymore. I am not here in this room with you right now to protect you, nor will Casey be closely shadowing you for that reason either. Instead, we are here to protect that computer now inside of your brain, and Chuck, a lot of very bad people, if they knew you had it, would do everything they could to take possession of you. I know it's not easy to accept, but my falling over your feet is the one thing that comes between the bad guys and you."

Chuck nodded several times. "Sarah, I understand that completely, and believe me, I don't like to be a serial complainer. It's not how things are done in my line of work, and if my comrades were to hear my complaints that I've made the past few days, they'd kick my ass all over D.C.," he said laughingly.

Sarah snickered in an attempt to hold in her laughter, but she was unsuccessful.

Once the laughter between the two of them had subsided, Chuck continued, "I don't belong as a tier-one operator if I can do nothing but complain to my partner constantly about the situation. To be honest with you, my complaints are becoming tiring even for me. So how about this: you will hear no further complaints from me about the situation, and if I'm not happy with something, then I'll just go to Graham directly."

"Chuck, you can try, but I strongly doubt that you will get your own way with him," she said.

Dancing his eyebrows at her, which caused her to snort, Chuck said, "I'm not sure. I can be quite persuasive when I want to be."

"It will take a lot more than that," she pointed at his eyebrow dancing. "to change his mind."

Grinning, Chuck said, "No faith in the Bartowski eyebrow dance, huh?"

Sarah laughed sharply. "Wow, you even have a name for it," she said as a loving smile formed.

"Of course I do. Who do you think you're dealing with?" Chuck asked as he held his grin towards her.

They shared a friendly glance before they finally started to eat in silence together, though they continued to share multiple warm glances towards each other.

Due to his level of tiredness, Chuck hadn't picked up on something initially, but once he had, it became unmistakable. It appeared that Sarah had a strong aversion to olives, and Chuck started to observe Sarah with great interest as her gaze focused down at her plate. She carefully picked each olive out of the pizza and discarded them to the side of the plate.

A grin lit up on Chuck's face as he watched her, and he continued in pause for a long moment until it appeared that Sarah had finally completed her actions. She then began to raise her gaze, and Chuck quickly averted his glance away from Sarah to avoid detection, and he continued to eat his food. Though he made an instant mental note to always go out of his way to ensure his partner never received something she didn't like ever again.

x-x-x-x-x-x

It was well after 11pm in Washington D.C., and Sarah was ready for bed. Chuck, however, was soundly unconscious already. But there was one problem. Chuck had fallen asleep on the sofa not long after he had finished eating, and he was still in his day dress, and he had not showered.

Sarah took several minutes deciding on what course of action she should take to resolve the problem she now faced. She didn't want to wake him just to tell him to go to bed, but she didn't want to leave him in his present state either. It was a rather chilly evening in the capital, and Chuck was wearing just a thin long-sleeved dress shirt, plus his dinner plate was still on his lap. Sarah wasn't dressed in all that much herself if the truth was told. Her nightie was much cooler than the pajamas that she'd worn in the aftermath of Chuck's comment to her. Still, the reality was that Sarah was most comfortable sleeping in her nightie. So as soon as the air had been restored between them during their date that wasn't a date, Sarah had immediately reverted back to sleeping while wearing what she found most comfortable to wear.

Deciding that she needed at the very least to remove the dinner plate from his person, Sarah rose to stand from the bed.

Now standing, she carefully crept towards Chuck, feeling nervous each step she took in case he woke up and misread her purpose of advancing towards him.

Arriving at the sofa a short moment later, Sarah gently removed the dinner plate from Chuck's lap.

Returning to the bed, Sarah collected her own dish and the pizza box, and she moved to place it onto a cabinet in the room. With her actions complete, she returned to the bed, and she collected the duvet. Chuck had gone out of his way to make Sarah feel relaxed around him today. So the least she thought she could do was to let him have the duvet.

Arriving back at the sofa, Sarah paused to glance at him from where he lay on the couch.

He looks so cute when he's sleeping

Sarah continued to glance at Chuck for a second or two more before she started to shake her head.

Stop fooling around. I can't repeat the same mistakes again like I did with Bryce. Just give him the blanket, and go to bed!

Sarah instantly moved to place the blanket over Chuck, and she quickly turned away from him, and she moved over towards her luggage and she collected a dressing gown. With her actions complete, she moved to turn off the light in the room, and she climbed onto the bed before she threw her dressing gown over her, and she soon drifted off to sleep.


End of Chapter


AN2 Next Chapter: Chuck and Casey bonding at breakfast together, Chuck does something heroic which touches Sarah (it's my version of the Ballerina girl moment), and more!

AN3 Significant progress this chapter! What did you like about it?

AN4 Once more, my thanks to everybody who has interacted and left their feedback for The Spy and the Soldier lately! I really do appreciate all of the feedback, whether positive or respectfully constructive. Please continue to do so, and in return, I will continue to keep the chapters coming! :)