A/N: Sorry I've been gone for a bit. I've been working on a few big chapters of this. Emotionally big. Yeah, there's gonna come a moment and Sarah can do nothing but watch. Welcome back to the train wreck. We're getting closer and closer to these two realizing how much better they are together.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck
The camera cuts to Ellie in the interview chair. "That day was hard. We were burying our father, who we had buried in our own minds years ago. It was reopening wounds that worried me. I knew what it was doing to me, and I had Devon to support me. I began to wonder what it would do to Chuck." She chuckled and shook her head. "Turns out he had someone as well. She was right there with him all day long." Ellie grinned. "I was still worried about him, because in that moment, seeing them together didn't even give me joy. I think that's when I finally accepted Dad was completely gone, and Mom wasn't coming home." Ellie begins to tear up and Chuck walks into the shot, squats down, and wraps his arms around her.
}o{
They were in the conference room of CIA Network, a huge buffet was spread out. Carina, Zondra, Morgan, and the rest of the group wanted to do something for Chuck and Ellie. What they were hoping for was to remind the two of them that they did have family, maybe not blood family, but family.
Sarah was sitting right beside Chuck, keeping an eye on him. "I'm okay," Chuck told her softly.
"I don't think you are, and it's okay not to be okay," Sarah replied in the same voice he had used. "Your safe here, Chuck, it's okay to grieve for your father."
Morgan stood up. "I know because of the accident a lot of things were hard on Chuck and Ellie," Morgan began. "But he was a good and funny man." Ellie nodded at that. "One of my favorite things to do was mention 'The Moonlighting Curse.'"
Ellie snorted at that, making everyone turn to her. "Oh, God," Ellie said, beginning to laugh. Chuck grinned at her, and encouraged her to go on by nodding at her. "Oh my God. So, you all know the show Moonlighting?" Everyone nodded. "Dad was OFFENDED any time someone would use the term, 'The Moonlighting Curse.'"
She stood up, and did her best impersonation of her father, including the voice. "The INSISTENCE that Moonlighting ended because David Addison and Maddie Hayes got together is pure lunacy and a cheap ploy by writers that don't know how to write a couple!" Chuck began to chuckle, remembering his dad getting mad. "Let's talk about all the problems that plagued that show.
"Production!" Chuck chimed in.
"Exactly," Ellie replied, keeping the imitation going. "The news would do a 'what's coming on tonight' section, and play a clip of the upcoming episode, but not Moonlighting! No siree Bob! The network wasn't ever sure by the time the national news was on if there would be a new episode or not, because they hadn't finished shooting, or uploaded it to be broadcast."
"What!?" Sarah said, stunned. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack, young lady," Ellie replied, still doing the Stephen Bartowski impersonation. "And let's not forget the writers strike."
"They kill shows," Chuck grumbled.
"ANNNNND! By the time the show came back, Bruce Willis had separated his shoulder, to the point, when his character and Maddie finally consummated their relationship, they had to film the scene standing up, with a bedsheet draped behind them to look like they're in bed!"
"Oh God," Sarah said, laughing.
"ANNNNNND!" Ellie continued.
"This sounds like an absolute shit show!" Sarah said to Chuck.
"It's a miracle the show lasted as long as it did," Chuck admitted.
"Cybill Shepard got pregnant, so they had to work that into the story line. Bruce Willis had blown up as an actor, the two fought constantly so don't give me any baloney about the, 'Moonlighting Curse!'" With that Ellie sat down, and shook her head.
She popped right back up. "AAAANNNNNDDD!" she continued
"Oh God," Chuck said, holding onto Sarah's arm, trying not to cry he was laughing so hard.
"DON'T get me started on Mark Harmon who played Sam," she continued on. "He was playing Maddie's boyfriend and…" she made some sound that sounded half like a grunt and half a curse. "I was so pissed off at him that I WOULDN'T watch NCIS for several seasons because I was so mad at him!" With that, she sat down, shook her head, grabbed her drink, and just before she drank, muttered in her Stephen voice, "God, I miss that show!"
"Woohoo!" Sarah said, clapping and laughing. Everyone was cheering Ellie on.
"Thank you," Ellie said, bowing her head. "He was a good man. The man we saw at the end wasn't him."
"I know," Chuck said, nodding. "I know."
}o{
The next morning found Chuck peering out Sarah's sliding glass door that faced the beach, watching the rain come down. He felt a hand on his shoulder, but never turned. Sarah stood beside him, sipping her coffee. "That looks like the type of rain that just sits down and pours all day."
"It does," Chuck agreed. "Sarah, I think I need to go home. Between this, and the funeral…I'm just gonna depress you."
"Nope," Sarah chirped, looking over at him as she sipped her coffee. "I have plans for us today."
"You want me to depress you?" Chuck asked.
"No, I was hoping to watch Tron with someone and if I get confused, they explain it to me," Sarah began. She was looking straight out the window, but she could feel him gaping at her. She didn't fight the grin as she continued. "And then maybe some Star Wars movies," she continued.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" Chuck asked. Sarah burst out laughing and looked over at him. She was glad to see the smile on his face and him not questioning himself.
"Well, I was gonna suggest that you have vanilla ice cream and I have Rocky Road, but I don't need the HR complaint on Monday," she barbed right back.
"Is that a proposition?"
Sarah snorted laughter. "I mean it might be in your world, but no, it was just what I thought I might do today. Spend time with my friend. Watch some movies, hell, I might even let you be my little spoon on the couch, there's plenty of room."
"Don't kid about being the big spoon," Chuck told her. She smiled at him.
}o{
Monday came too soon for both of them. It was all Sarah could do not to hum all the way to work. She and Chuck had continued their back and forth and she was beginning to think that maybe she should talk to him about how she was feeling. Maybe they could figure it out.
She walked in, laughing at what Chuck was telling her, as it all went sideway. "Miss Walker, Netflix would like you to call them back," Daphne informed her, killing the mood almost instantly.
"When you say Netflix," Sarah began. She let out a rough breath. "You mean, Quinn, right?" Daphne nodded. "Okay."
"Everything okay?" Chuck asked her.
"I'm sure it's fine," Sarah reassured him. "Go get your script and get to work," she told him with a grin. He put two fingers to his head, saluted, and headed down the hall. When he had disappeared from sight she turned toward Daphne. One look at Daphne gave Sarah the answer to Chuck's question. "Crikey," she muttered.
}o{
The camera cuts to Quinn sitting in the interview chair. "We had received the second episode, and looked it over. Some of our people made a suggestion based on Q ratings for a slight tweak to the story." Quinn put his forefinger and thumb together with just the slightest space between them. "Just a slight tweak." Quinn gave a half-hearted smile. "Fine, it was a bit of a big tweak."
}o{
Sarah sat in her chair, one hand squeezing her forehead as she held the receiver with the other. "That is not a TWEAK!" She listened for a minute and sighed. "So I have no damn choice is what you're telling me? No, Quinn, that is what you are telling me. If what I want to happen is going to happen, I have to do this, although I want NOTHING to do with it." She was silent for a second. "I don't give a DAMN about Tom Hanks! I'll do it." She started to hang up when Quinn spoke again and she lost it. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE A GOOD DAY WITH THAT!?" She bellowed and slammed the phone down. "Piss off!" she yelled at the phone.
The door opened and Zondra came in holding a drink. She walked up to Sarah, placed the drink on the desk, and sat down. "Don't even tell me nothing is wrong, Daphne flagged me down, worried, and you know Daphne, she doesn't give a damn about anything but herself." Zondra watched Sarah fling the drink down, not even blinking. "Damn," she said softly. "Did he suggest you sleep with him?"
Sarah scoffed. "You know what, in some ways that would have been easier, because that…that I know how to handle." She shook her head in disgust and leaned back in her chair. "Fuck me dead." Zondra pulled back her chin. "Sorry, it basically means I didn't see that one coming."
"Sar, what happened?"
"That fuckwit wants me to be in the show," Sarah told her, shaking her head, furious.
"Okay, but why are you this upset?" Zondra asked.
"Because he believes some stupid Q rating system that says if I'm in it, it will get more views. I'm trying to make a show without me in it. If I wanted to be in it, I'd be the main star, not you, and that's not what I'm trying to do here," Sarah began. Zondra nodded, listening.
"He gave me some shit about Tom Hanks being in That Thing You Do and it was his first production," Sarah continued. "I've made a production company, not a, Sarah-wants-to-be-in-new-and-different-projects company."
"And he said if you didn't your other project wouldn't get funded?" Zondra asked.
"Not exactly, it was more, 'I can almost guarantee that you'll get your other project financed if you do this.'"
"But he can't promise?" Zondra asked.
"No," Sarah replied, a look of annoyance on her face. Zondra sat there quietly, shifting her jaw as if she wanted to say something, but also like she was trying to keep from laughing. "What?"
"Sarah, I know you. The story is still going around of the guy you punched when he told you he could get your role expanded for a hummer." Sarah grinned at that. "I've seen you handle all sorts of shit and nothing has you as mad as this. You know how this works, and maybe you didn't see it coming, but it can't be a surprise."
"No," she admitted softly.
"So, Sar…what's wrong?"
"I'm in love with Chuck," Sarah said softly, her eyes staring at her desk. Zondra's eyes widened. "They want me to play…." Sarah trailed off and looked up at her friend.
"Hannah, the woman who hates Paul," Zondra said, nodding and beginning to understand.
"He says he can tell with my acting, but he's never acted across from me, he's not trained, he's…he's Chuck, and some of the stuff she would say to him…"
"Jesus," Zondra whispered. "You are in love with him." Sarah nodded, barely moving her head. "Hey, it's gonna be okay."
"Is it?" Sarah asked. "We're gonna have to be combative on-screen, is he gonna be okay with that? I mean he says he can see the real me, but can he?"
"Sarah, are you scared?" Sarah looked away, tears in her eyes. "Oh. My. God." Sarah was trying not to laugh at her friend, as the tears fell. "Oh my God, Sarah Walker has fallen in love and she's scared she's gonna lose her man."
"He's not mine," Sarah told Zondra, as Sarah turned back to her. "He's not."
"Then maybe we need to fix that," Zondra suggested.
}o{
The camera cuts to Quinn sitting in the interview chair. He winces and puts his forefinger and thumb together with just the slightest space between them.
A/N: Ohhhh, so that's the big deal. Huh…wonder how that works out?
Next time:
"My point is this, that man is crazy about you," Zondra began.
"And when he had the chance to say something, he didn't," Sarah said.
"At your home, where he was your guest, with your best friend there," Zondra reminded her in a low calm voice.
Sarah winced. "Okay, point, but…Zondra…" Sarah was silent for a moment and when she continued, she was fiddling with the hem of her shirt, her eyes down, her voice soft. "Does he really feel about me the way I do about him?"
*turns to camera and grins*