A/N: We continue the tale.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

A man sits down in the interview chair. The producer speaks. "Who are you and what do you do?"

"I am Nicholas Quinn and I am an executive with Netflix. More importantly, I am the the main contact between Netflix and Paussie Productions," Quinn answers. "I guess some would find me the bad guy of this tale."

The producer speaks. "And why would you say that?"

Quinn grins. "Because I'm a businessman and I had no idea about all of…well…that. I decided to bring in people that would help make the show a hit /I thought I was helping."

There is silence for a moment and then the producer speaks. "And did you?"

"Not in the least," Quinn said, shaking his head. "Not in the least."

}o{

Sarah sat at her desk, trying to figure out what in the hell she was going to do...mostly about the show. He biggest concern at the moment was finding a male lead. However, there was a tall, curly headed man that was also making his way into her thoughts and she had no idea what to do about him either…if she were honest. A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts. "Come in!" The door opened and Langston Graham walked in. Sarah smiled seeing him. "I really wasn't expecting that reaction out of you about Chuck out there."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Graham said. "That guy can NOT be for real."

"What did he do?" Sarah asked, worried, and truly afraid that it was too good to be true.

"You ever heard of this?" Graham asked, handing Sarah a tablet. Sarah looked at the site that was opened and then back up to Langston. "This Bartowski guy, he was about to start his own production company. He had written a grant to help lower his costs. Instead of going through with his plans, he joins us, and is making tweaks to the grant he wrote, so we can get the money. AND he is going to submit it for us. That kind of person doesn't exist, Walker." Graham was shaking his head.

Sarah continued to read through the website. "Langston…" she kept reading and then looked up at him. "If this is legit…I mean, what he's doing. Because this looks legit."

"It's through the state," Graham told her. "The grant is as legit as it comes, but Bartowski?"

"This gives us the financial flexibility," Sarah said softly. She put her hand to her mouth, trying to control her emotions. Her dreams…they were about to come ture. "It's enough for us to shoot their film."

"It is," Langston told her. There was a knock on the door and Graham eyed it.

"Come in," Sarah said. The door opened and Zondra walked in. "Did you know anything about this?" Sarah stood and handed Zondra the tablet.

"Yeah, Chuck is working on a grant to start his own production company," she replied, handing the tablet back to Sarah. Zondra looked from Sarah to Graham. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

"Chuck is rewriting the grant for us," Sarah told Zondra.

Zondra was silent for a second. "But he had two people he was working with to make producers in his studio."

"They are part of the deal," Graham said. Zondra nodded. "I'm assuming you're his best friend?" Zondra nodded again. Graham looked at Sarah. "Then when did you help a little girl when you didn't have to?"

Sarah stared at Graham for a second and then her eyes widened. She turned to Zondra. "Zondra, is Chuck related to a doctor named Ellie Bartowski?"

"You mean his sister who helped raise him and is on one of the podcasts that are produced by his network?" Zondra replied. Sarah took a deep breath. "You know Ellie?"

"Molly Jozwaik," Sarah said sitting back down and typing something into her computer. She pulled up the story of the family that was killed during the shoot-out. "Mom and Dad called after this happened. They knew the family, and asked me to see if I could do anything for them. I went to the hospital to find the family…to help with money…to help with bills…whatever I could do. I got there and found out she had no family there. As far as she knew, they were all dead. Molly was scared, and wouldn't speak. I spoke to her in Polish and she opened up to me."

"Holy shit, Sar," Zondra said.

"Her doctor was Dr. Ellie Bartowski." Zondra's eyes widened. "She and I talked and a little while later, she told me of some family that Molly had that she didn't know about. I was hesitant to contact them, because I had no idea what kind of people they were, but Dr. Bartowski assured me that the family had been checked out." Sarah turned to Zondra and saw a smile on Zondra's face. "What?"

"Chuck," Zondra said with a shrug. "He's really good with Google searches."

"Okkaaayyyy," Sarah replied, not sure what was going on. "Anyway, I was supposed to go to this big shindig with her and her family, and Molly and her family, but I got the call for 24 and off I went to London."

"And you missed meeting Chuck," Zondra told her.

"Are you telling me this Bartowski kid is the real deal?" Graham asked.

"Yes, he is," Zondra told him. She began to say more when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Sarah yelled.

The door opened and a short raven-haired woman walked in. "Hi, I'm Kayla Hart. Nicholas Quinn from Netflix sent me…HEY ZONDRA!"

"Oh, God," Zondra groaned.

}o{

The camera cuts back to Quinn. He sat there for a second and shrugged. "She was an actress, but more importantly, a social media influencer, and we were trying to create a buzz about the show. How was I to know Sarah had hired Chuck Bartowski?"

The producer speaks. "Okay, that one makes sense, but the other?"

Quinn grinned "Well, that one…I thought maybe those two had chemistry in the past, they could have it again."

}o{

"What's wrong?" Kayla asked.

"What's wrong, Zondra," Sarah parroted. The door pushed open with no knock this time. Sarah turned and her face went stony. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

"Nicholas Quinn sent me, said you need a leading man, and here I am."

"Good God," Graham muttered.

"Quinn isn't saying…" Sarah began.

Cole gave her a half smirk. "Looks like it. I'm the lead in your show." He paused and when he spoke, he was full of innuendo. "We're back together."

}o{

The camera cuts to Quinn. He just sat there and shrugged.

}o{

The camera cuts to Chuck.

"You know when something happens and someone says Hollywood wouldn't believe it?" Chuck sits there for a second. "Well, this happened in Hollywood."

The producer speaks. "As bad as it was, this was where things started to turn, right?"

Chuck gave a slight grin. "You could say that." He paused. "You know that old saying it always darkest before the dawn…it got dark."

}o{

"Chuck's ex-girlfriend and Sarah's ex-boyfriend," Zondra muttered to Graham. "What are the chances?"

"Wait, what?" Sarah said, whipping her head around to Zondra.

"Sarah, I get we parted on bad terms," Cole began.

"You were banging the flight attendant and joined the mile high club," Sarah reminded him.

"I was, but let me remind you, we weren't exclusive," Cole insisted.

"Jesus," Graham muttered and slowly began to make his way to the door as Cole and Kayla moved toward Sarah and Zondra.

"Oh, this is good," Kayla said softly, her eyes lighting up at the drama.

There was a knock at the door, but no one paid any attention. Graham opened it to leave, and Chuck was standing there.

"Oh, good, I found you," Chuck chirped. He handed Graham a flash drive. "Look that over, and let me know if you want me to make any edits, if not, I'll submit it and we should know in five business days if we get approved."

"Chuck?" Kayla said softly, turning around and seeing him. Chuck's eyes went wide. He turned toward her voice and saw Kayla. Past her, he saw Zondra standing there, looking shocked.

"I gotta go," he mouthed to Zondra. Zondra nodded, knowing where he was going.

"Chuck, wait," Kayla said, heading toward Chuck. Chuck spun on his foot and left quickly.

"Don't follow him Kayla," Zondra said, steel in her voice. Everyone went silent at that. "Don't even think about it."

"But, he doesn't understand," Kayla protested. "I liked him, a lot. I didn't think we were exclusive."

"See," Cole said, thrusting his hand toward Kayla. "Not everyone assumes their relationship is an exclusive one."

"We had been dating for two years you dolt!" Sarah snapped.

"More like two months because that's all the time you could find for me," Cole retorted.

"Get out," Sarah said in a low voice. Cole turned and left. Sarah looked over at Kayla. "Please leave, I need to get some work done. If you're going to be here, then you are to leave Chuck Bartowski alone."

"I can get you publicity," Kayla began.

"I don't care," Sarah replied. Kayla stared at her, shocked.

"I don't think you realize how influential I can be," Kayla tried again.

"Oh, I am aware," Sarah retorted. "I just watched you hurt a man who has been nothing but amazing every time I've been around him. He is helping me by cutting costs around here. He helped find a little girl's family, after her parents were killed. He's kind, he's funny, and he is helping me to achieve his dream. That is the kind of person I need."

"But you don't understand, I can get people to watch your show," Kayla argued.

"Kayla, my show is about a thirty-five year old woman, newly married, that is dealing with her life. It's supposed to be a quiet life, but things happen that throws it in upheaval. Is that really something your followers are going to want to see?"

"No," Kayla admitted. "No it's not." She walked towards the door and paused. "Tell him…tell him I'm sorry." She turned toward Zondra and Sarah. "I never meant to hurt him. I thought he knew, he understood."

"Kayla, if you knew Chuck Bartowski," Sarah began, feeling Zondra stare at her, but ignoring it. "If you really knew him, then you would have known that is not something he would have agreed with."

Kayla hung her head. "Yeah…you're right." She lifted her head and looked at Zondra. "I'm sorry."

"I know," Zondra replied, nodding. Kayla nodded and left. Zondra turned back to Sarah. "What in the hell do you mean if she really knew him?"

"Anyone that doesn't have their head shoved up there ass, can tell in three seconds that man is not one to play the field, and just date around. Anyone that is not so wrapped up in themselves can tell he's the kind of guy that women say they dream about, but when they find him, he scares the absolute hell out of them," Sarah told Zondra.

"Jesus, you've fallen for him," she breathed in a shocked tone, a smirk on her face.

"No," Sarah replied, knowing she was lying. "He is a good man, who can help me…help us, and I don't like seeing people taken advantage of…especially someone as nice as him."

"How about you just say, especially him," Zondra added. Sarah gave her an annoyed look. "Sar, it's me."

"Zondra, if I was interested, and I'm not saying I am," Sarah began.

"But you're not saying your not," Zondra pointed out.

"Then how in the hell would it work with me and him?" Sarah continued. "He deserves better than me." Zondra didn't say anything, the amused look never leaving her face. "Now, where is he?"

"What?" Zondra asked, shocked. "Wait, you're going after him?"

"Of course I am," Sarah replied. "This is my company, and my employee needs to know this is a safe work environment, and what happened here today is unacceptable."

"I'll text you the address," Zondra said. Sarah nodded and started for the door, Zondra following her. "You want me to go with you? He's having an anxiety attack." Sarah stopped and looked at Zondra. "It's our code if he needs to get away and deal with it."

"No, I need to fix this," Sarah said. The two left her office and Zondra watched her walk to the office door, and leave.

"I mean, she doesn't need to fix it, but I hope she does," Zondra said softly.

A/N: Who is writing this trainwreck? Oh…right.

Next time:

"But, I thought you were on medicine to control it?"

"So, anxiety is like the worst bully in the world always taunting you, telling you the worst possible outcome of any situation," Chuck explained. "The medicine simply turns down the volume. If the medicine is too high, you don't hear the voice, but you're also basically high. You're so mellow you just can't function as a human being, and…there are some side effects."

"Side effects?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, you know it can mess with your stomach, it can give you headaches, you can feel a shock in your right nipple."

Next time….we get real about some stuff, maybe a touch heavy. And yes, one of my old meds use to give me a shock in my right nipple.