A/N: An ex-CIA agent gets shot and is attended by a doctor we know. As a result, a nerd gets to spend some time with her. A shot at friendship, maybe more?
Captainrick944 has kindly beta'd this for me. It has gone through a rewrite and few iterations with a lot of help from him, but of course any mistakes still in it are all mine. Go read his "Orion Cyber Security Systems" if you aren't already.
Shot
Chapter 1: Wounded
She couldn't believe this had happened straight after leaving the CIA and losing the ability to have expert Company assistance getting back into good shape.
She hadn't been concentrating. Distracted. Ten years in the CIA had made her constantly situationally aware. Becoming a civilian shouldn't have changed that so quickly, but she had completely failed to be aware of her surroundings. Or, more particularly, the people in the bank's secure area.
The ironic thing is that she was only standing in that particular area of the bank to secure some items temporarily, until she had a permanent place to stay with its own safe. Had she already made a decision on where to stay, she might not have needed to be here at all.
She was certain that the bank was nowhere near as secure as it claimed with those armed men getting in and attempting to steal the contents of the safety deposit boxes.
However, the trigger-happy security guards were the ones who had hit her, not the armed robbers. Why the hell didn't they see her? Why would they think she was part of the robbery? Unlike the robbers, she was wearing a sun dress and sandals, not dressed in black, and wearing a mask. Total, fucking incompetence. And it wasn't just one guard, as the two bullets hit her simultaneously. Two fucking incompetent, trigger-happy morons.
The bullet that hit her left shoulder was painful, but the one that hit her right leg was agony. It also meant she fell instantly. Maybe that was what saved her, as two further bullets sailed over her as she fell.
She landed badly and the impact took her breath way.
The minute the security guards started shooting, the armed robbers instantly dropped to the ground, sliding their guns away.
Once they saw this, the security guards ignored her as she lay in her rapidly increasing pool of blood, moving to secure the perpetrators of the attempted robbery first. It was the bank manager, who had brought her down here, that found her. He was, not surprisingly, horrified that she had been shot, twice. As were the police who arrived shortly afterwards.
The manager tried to blame the armed men for her wounds, which pissed her off almost as much as actually being shot. She corrected that immediately, pointing out that the robbers' guns had not been fired.
When the policewoman who helped her sit asked why she was even there, grimacing through the pain, she explained she was accessing some personal documents from her safety deposit box with the help of the bank manager. Then the officer turned her attention to the bank manager. "Why weren't you with her?"
"I- I was called away," the bank manager said defensively, earning two sets of scowls.
Sarah was asked to give a full description of everything she witnessed, which she did fully, before an ambulance arrived for her.
As she was wheeled away, she vowed to get her things from that damned bank as soon as she could and never use it again.
She knew that as a private citizen, she could also file a hell of a law suit. She was a customer, and she had been shot by two of the Bank's armed employees. While she couldn't think about such things right now, she had the presence of mind to tell the police woman to make sure they secured all video surveillance tapes before anything was "accidentally" erased.
The surgeon claimed to have repaired her shoulder blade and patched that up. He said her knee cap was unrepairable, so they had replaced it.
They would help her rehabilitate. She would remain in the hospital for three days. After that, she would still need to return for further physiotherapy treatment.
Three days in this bloody hospital! She lay her head back on the pillow.
She couldn't help feeling the medical team employed by the Company would have had her out in a lot less time.
No one here knew her background, and she was not volunteering that.
As she knew no one in the Los Angeles area, the only 'visitors' she had were the medical staff tending to her. She was okay with that, never being a social person, but being stuck in bed most of the time soon became almost unbearable.
Shortly after the operation, the surgeon was taken ill, and another doctor took over her care. This doctor was different. Where the first just seemed to act like she was just another bed occupier, this one treated her like a human being.
A day later, Sarah was awaiting her visit and looked forward to it.
On-time, the woman breezed in. She was a beautiful brunette. Sarah could imagine patients falling for her looks and her charms. "Good morning, Sarah."
Her cheerful manner was a bit much to take, but Sarah responded. "Morning, Dr. Bartowski."
After the usual checkup, the doctor looked at her for a while, making her feel uncomfortable. "What?"
"The nurses have told me you've had no visitors and seem miserable."
Sarah huffed. "Being shot and then stuck in here is not my idea of fun, Doctor."
The doctor smiled sadly, "No, it's not. Sarah, I don't like seeing people miserable, though. Would talking about it help?"
Sarah wasn't a talker, but somehow this doctor exuded kindness and interest. She was obviously a people person, unlike Sarah. Maybe talking would help. That's what normal people did, didn't they? She knew she was going to have to change her ways to fit in. Maybe this was a start? She nodded.
The doctor sat on the chair beside the bed. "Firstly, you'll have to stop calling me Doctor if we chat. I'm Ellie."
"Ok, Ellie. Do you have the time to chat?"
"I make time to help people. Tell me about yourself."
That caused a moments panic. There was so much of her life that she never wanted or even could talk about, but she fell back on the facts that were relevant to her new life. "I have only been in Los Angeles for a week, having just moved here from the East."
"Did you move for your job?"
Stick to the script, she thought. "I moved to make a change." That was absolutely true.
Ellie nodded sympathetically. "So, why here?"
"Away from the people I used to work with." That was also true. Even when in the States, all of them lived in DC.
It did, however, earn a frown. "Do you know anyone here?"
"No," she admitted. That was deliberate but obviously not something that Ellie liked hearing.
The brunette commented, "Hence the lack of visitors."
Sarah said nothing. What was there to say?
"That's not good. I'll come and visit you when I can."
Confused, Sarah asked, "Why?"
Ellie frowned again. "What do you mean, why?"
"It's not part of your job, so why do this?"
Ellie signed. "When I came to Los Angeles, I knew nobody other than my brother who came with me. If it hadn't been for one woman's kindness, it would have been so much harder. I guess I feel helping you is payback of sorts."
They continued to talk for an hour. When Ellie left her, Sarah felt happier than she had for years. Even in this awful setting, this woman was making her feel that coming to Los Angeles was a good choice. Certainly, if there were people like her here.
Chuck groaned as he approached the hospital entrance. He knew this was going to be a train wreck. How had he let his sister talk him into this?
Much as he loved Ellie and all that she had done for him over the years, but helping out this new friend of Ellie's felt like a date, like her usual ploys at getting him together with the various colleagues she'd set him up with over the years.
Of course, he knew the answer to the question. When she'd told him about the woman's arrival in Los Angeles and its similarity to their own, he felt sorry for her. Ellie would definitely have felt the same, hence the request when she couldn't spare the time. She didn't guilt-trip him into doing it but probably would have if he turned her down. So, here he was. It wasn't much consolation, but if this went pear-shaped, it was all his sister's fault.
He wondered how this patient felt about the brother of her current doctor appearing at her bedside to collect her and take her for a real meal instead of the hospital food she'd been suffering. Would she see it as Ellie setting her up? Would that horrify her? Would she refuse to go with him?
Ellie hadn't told him much more than the woman's name, the ward she was on, and when to collect her.
He should have refused, but if he was honest with himself, the thought of someone alone in Los Angeles and recovering from a gunshot wound was too much for him. He had to help.
As he stood in the elevator, riding it to the third floor where he was to pick her up, he realized he had no idea what she even looked like. Was she a brunette, a blonde, a redhead, or did she have her hair dyed some other color? What color skin did she have? Was she tall or short?
He had thought to say he was there to do this for her because Ellie had asked him to, but that sounded like he didn't want to do it, which was partly true, but not a very kind thing to say.
As the elevator doors slid open, he still had no real idea what he was going to say to either the woman or the nurses. He walked slowly to the nurses' desk. He recognized all of the women standing near it. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
He walked to the one sitting behind the desk. "Hi Jane, I'm here to collect Sarah Walker."
Jane looked him over. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and black pants. He hoped he looked smart enough. Jane sat back in her chair, saying, "Nice, Chuck. Hope she appreciates the effort."
He blushed. God damn it, what has Ellie told them? That I'm here for a date?
"Room 303, just down there on the right." She pointed down the left corridor. He thanked her and set off, feeling nervous.
As he walked away, Jane called out, "Good luck this time, Chuck."
That stopped him dead. He turned and looked back. He wasn't sure what got to him most, being wished good luck because nothing else would make this work, or her saying 'this time' because she knew that he struggled to talk to women; maybe even that every date he'd been on had been such a spectacular failure. Jane just waved him on. He did turn back because he wasn't doing this for him, but to make a seriously injured person feel happier, he hoped.
He found room 303. The door was open. Oh God, had she heard all that?
He knocked on the open door. "Come in, Chuck," a melodious female voice said.
As she'd called his name, he knew she had indeed heard what Jane had called out. Shaking his head, he walked in.
She had surprised herself.
The normally quiet, reserved Sarah Walker had opened up to this Ellie Bartowski. Well, not much, but enough that the doctor had said she'd enjoyed their talk.
Talk! Something that she had avoided for the last ten years, apart from what was needed on a mission. However, if she was going to immerse herself in civilian life and 'blend in,' she needed to get used to this.
Eleanor Bartowski, Ellie, also sat and chatted with her the following day. Sarah really liked her. That was a surprise, as she never really liked people, always kept her distance. Sure, she enjoyed being with Carina and Zondra, but that was the experiences they had had, not the women themselves. Or was it?
Anyway, this doctor was someone she felt she could enjoy being with and just enjoyed chatting with her. Chatting was a new concept too.
Even better, and more surprising, was that Ellie seemed to like her and enjoyed chatting with her.
Could this be her first friend in Los Angeles, her first real friend?
Well, today, she was leaving this place. Ellie had checked on her earlier and given the all-clear.
She'd been taken to the physiotherapist and received instructions on what to do herself and when to come in for sessions. She had also received everything she needed from the nurses and an appointment for a post-op review. Now she was discharged and waiting to be picked up.
Unfortunately, Ellie was busy for the rest of the day today, so she wouldn't be able to be there for her when she left. Sarah had been upset. Then, she'd been upset with herself for being upset. She'd been on missions where she'd spoken to no one for weeks, so this shouldn't be hard. However, she really enjoyed seeing Ellie and had looked forward to seeing her one last time before she left. Ellie had, however, another plan. Sarah should have rejected the plan outright but was actually intrigued about Ellie's brother, the other child that had arrived in Los Angeles with his sister.
However, sitting here waiting for him, she felt terrible for him having to come to the hospital at his sister's bidding for this strange woman. If she'd had his contact details, she would have called him to let him off the hook and just called a taxi. Instead, she was sitting at the end of the bed waiting for the poor guy.
She knew she looked like a wreck. She had no makeup on, and although she was clean, she hadn't looked like this in front of anyone for a long, long time. She had even covered her hair to hide what that looked like. She admonished herself for thinking this way. This wasn't a mark she was trying to hook; this was a kind guy coming to help and maybe spend some of his time with a lonely patient.
She heard one of the nurses mention to another, "He's here." Looking at the clock in the room, this was the time he was to arrive.
She then heard a male voice, "Hi Jane, Ellie told me to pick up Sarah Walker." Yep, it was him. Why were the nurses talking about him, though?
She was surprised to hear Nurse Jane Freeman reply, "Nice, Chuck. Hope she appreciates the effort." Had he dressed up for her? That just made her feel worse about her appearance.
After giving him directions to her room, the nurse called out, "Good luck this time, Chuck." Was she acting like this was a date, as she sounded, or did they all know him and tease the poor guy like that all the time?
He knocked on the open door. "Come in, Chuck," she called.
Chuck was surprised when he saw the patient for the first time as he walked into her room. Sitting at the end of the bed was a stunningly beautiful blonde woman, smiling almost apologetically at him. "Sarah?" he asked, then felt stupid. She was the only one in there. Of course she was Sarah.
She nodded and then did apologize. "I'm sorry your sister roped you into this, Chuck."
He gazed at the breathtaking woman sitting there with her right knee in some sort of dressing that he could see under the flared skirt she wore that just reached it. She also had a bandage over her left shoulder, which made the blouse she was wearing bulge.
He needed to make her feel better about him being there, especially as he felt that the only reason she had agreed to this was because Ellie had bullied her into it. "No, Sarah, I am happy to do this, but I am sorry if Ellie arm-twisted you into it." Then he realized what he had said, and winced adding, "Your right arm, obviously."
Her laughter was as beautiful as she was.
He continued, "If this helps in any way, I am always happy to help when someone needs it."
Shallow as it was, seeing this beauty made him very glad he had agreed.
She held his gaze for a few seconds, then said, "Thank you, Chuck. I do appreciate it."
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Dying to get out of here, if I'm honest," she replied.
He had been looking at her, taking her in. She was wearing no makeup, and her hair was covered by a scarf, presumably because her hair hadn't been washed and she was embarrassed. He pointed at that, "Sarah, you didn't need to cover your head. I'm not here to judge you."
She snorted. "Don't think I'd score very highly."
He grinned. "I think the bandages and dressing on your knee are the perfect accessories."
She laughed again. She had only just met Chuck Bartowski, and had already laughed more than she had for a long time, and it felt good. "Only if I wear them right and pose to show them off." She pushed her top to expose the shoulder bandage better, leaned it forward and pursed her lips into a kiss.
She was surprised when he whipped out his phone and took a photo. Years of hiding from cameras made her frown. "Delete it," she coldly commanded.
Chuck was a bit taken aback by her tone, but he shook his head. "Not till you've seen it, Sarah." He then turned the phone around, showing her the photo.
She looked at it. Although devoid of color, she did look like she was enjoying herself. "I don't like pictures of me on any social media sites, Chuck, so please delete it."
He gazed at her for a few seconds. "Okay, but would you like a copy first?"
It was so different from how the Company made her look that it did appeal to her. She looked at the guy in front of her. His expression showed no hint of ulterior motive, so she decided to tease him. "After my number already?"
He hadn't thought of that when he asked the question. He blushed and stuttered, "N- n- no."
She was amused and couldn't resist. "Oh, so you don't like me?" Then, she wondered what had gotten into her. She didn't behave like this.
He realized what she was doing, so he got his act together. "On the contrary. An incapacitated woman who can't escape is just right for me. Others don't hang around."
She was surprised by his quick reply but noticed the twinkle in his eyes. She grinned. "Well, maybe that makes you right for me, too." She looked down at herself and back into his eyes. "At least until I can make a run for it."
He laughed.
She took the phone from him and sent the photo to her new cell phone's number. She also saved the number with the name, "Sarah (victim)" before she deleted the photo and the message, just to be sure.
Handing the phone back to him, she found she wanted to know more about this man that made her laugh. Even though she never liked being asked the question herself, she still asked, "Tell me about yourself, Chuck. What can your victim know about you?"
"I'll save that for when we have escaped," he told her.
She grinned, "Fair enough, I'll let you lead the way to that escape route, my hero."
He laughed. "I've booked a table at an Italian restaurant that serves all day, so you can have a real meal. I hope you like Italian."
She held his gaze for a few seconds, then said, "Thank you, Chuck. I do like Italian."
He moved to help her, but she shook her head, so he stepped back and watched as she got herself off the bed, reaching for the crutch that stood beside it.
She had been planning to hobble, or at most hold his arm, while walking, hoping to avoid the wheelchair she had been told she had to use to leave the building because of insurance regulations.
Chuck was surprised when he heard a throat being cleared behind him. When he turned, he faced a hospital employee pushing a wheelchair.
Sarah groaned seeing that, but the guy just shrugged and said, "Regs."
As she eased herself into the wheelchair, she looked at Chuck. "I was hoping to avoid this. It makes me feel so fragile… so helpless."
Watching her had been hard for Chuck, so he couldn't stop himself from saying, "I really want to help."
She smiled. "You are. Taking me away from here and to a good Italian. Priceless."
"I could have just given you the recommendation. You wouldn't have had to eat with me if you'd taken a taxi."
She looked sharply at him. "You still can, if you want." The coldness in her voice was so different from the warmth he had heard before. It surprised him. He realized he was messing this up again.
"No, no. I want to take you there and eat with you. I just felt you might not want it." His mouth kept running, "Anyway, I love Italian, and it's not often I get to eat with a beautiful woman, so how can I resist?"
She narrowed her eyes for a few seconds but obviously saw both the honesty and humor in his eyes. She smiled. "Well, how can I resist such a charmer?"
She asked him to take the crutch she would use once out of the building and they left the room.
As they passed the nurses' desk, Jane called out, "Take care, Sarah."
"Thanks for everything, Nurse Freeman," Sarah said.
Chuck smiled at the nurse, who winked at him.
When they reached the exit, Chuck ran to his car and brought it to the front so that Sarah didn't have far to go.
She had sat, in the wheelchair, feeling irritated again. She wasn't upset with Chuck, just upset about being treated like this.
Once he had the car parked, she quickly got out of the wheelchair and took the crutch from the hospital employee who had taken it from Chuck.
Chuck hovered. That was the best way to describe how she felt he behaved. In a way, it was endearing but also increased her feeling of helplessness.
Getting into his car had been a bit more of a challenge, avoiding bashing her knee. When he decided he couldn't let her do it all herself, he helped her right leg in, touching it in the process.
Sarah was taken by surprise when his fingers touched her calf. She looked sharply at him, but he didn't notice as he was being so careful with her leg.
She relaxed and let him do this. He was only trying to help, after all.
He had taken her to her hotel, Maison 23, as she wanted to change before heading to the restaurant. He knew of the place and was impressed that she could afford to stay here.
She had refused any help and had told him to just sit as she got herself ready. He had had to turn away when she stripped off the bulky top she was wearing, feeling embarrassed at being with her when she only had her bra on underneath. Well, that and the bandages over her shoulder. She had smiled at his behavior but just commented, "I have to look my best for our date." Her eyes were twinkling as she said this, so he knew she didn't really think it to be a date.
When she entered the bathroom, his mind was spiraling. What he had glimpsed before turning away, was stuck in his head, even though he hadn't stared. He had difficulty imagining her looking better than that! However, he shouldn't be having such thoughts. Ellie would smack him in the back of the head for such behavior.
Sarah came out of the bathroom, having removed the bandages from her shoulder and now was wearing an attractive blouse. She looked even more stunning. However, he was concerned and frowned. "Shouldn't you keep the bandages on?"
"I'm fine, Chuck, but thanks for asking."
Sarah seemed subdued as they drove to the restaurant. He controlled his usual garrulous behavior and kept himself quiet.
When they entered the restaurant, he was recognized, and they were quickly taken to his favorite table. Well, as quickly as a woman on a crutch could move. Angelina couldn't resist teasing him. "Someone who couldn't escape quickly, Chuck?"
He grinned. "Well, no one else would come out with me, and she is someone who can't escape easily, so she is my victim for the afternoon."
"Don't believe a word of it. I wanted Italian and he kindly brought me here," Sarah told Angelina.
Angelina smiled at her. "He'll look after you. Quite a catch, really." He flushed. "Rosa will be serving you today." She walked back to the front of the restaurant.
He looked over at his companion, who was smiling at him. She said, "Sounds like I'm lucky, being with 'quite a catch.'"
He could see the amusement in her face, so he played on that. "I can name at least twenty women who would disagree with you."
She quirked an eyebrow. "Do you bring them all here? Should I be worried?"
He shook his head. "No. You're the first person I have ever brought here. Hence the comments from Angelina." She looked a bit surprised. "Most women refuse to go out for a meal, or anything, with me."
"Most?" He was so transparent, all she needed to do was question and find the truth so easily.
"Okay, all. I haven't had a date in five years." He just said it without thinking but then remembered all Ellie's warnings about talking of Stanford, so he shut up and looked down. His cutlery seemed really interesting all of a sudden.
Sarah's right hand appeared in his field of vision and rested on his arm. "I'm surprised, Chuck."
He looked up and saw honesty in her eyes. "Thank you, Sarah. Can we not talk about this anymore?"
She smiled. "Sure."
After they ordered their food, and as their drinks arrived, he looked at her. "Ellie didn't tell me much about your injuries."
She sat quietly for a while, then seemed to make a decision to tell him. "I was in the bank where there was an attempted robbery. I got caught in the crossfire between the armed guards and the guys robbing it."
He'd heard about the attempted robbery but not about her being there. "Oh God, Sarah. That's awful."
She shrugged.
He needed to know more. "How did you get caught?"
"Well, one bullet hit my left shoulder, and another-"
He cut her off. "That's not what I meant. How did you find yourself there?"
"My own stupid fault," she replied, looking annoyed. Seeing him still waiting, she signed. "I used to be in… law enforcement. I only recently… left. I am used to being in control, and… just let my guard down."
He was amazed. "What would you have done differently?"
She thought about that. "I could probably have subdued the robbers, but I wonder if the guards would still have shot me."
"You would have taken out the bad guys?" She winced but nodded. "Did you have a gun?"
She frowned. "No. Not anymore."
"So, you'd have attacked them with no weapons?" He was finding this hard to believe.
"I wasn't completely within weapons." She held out her hands. "I had these."
"God! I would have loved to have seen that… to see you in action."
She looked stunned. "Really?"
The words just came out without any control. "I bet you would have been impossibly hot." And there it was, he realized. the date breaker.
Before he could even get his face into his hands, she looked sour and replied dryly, "Unlike now."
He stared at her. "Now you look gorgeous." Why doesn't my mouth give it a break?
She snorted. "A contraption around my knee does wonders for me, huh?"
Hell, He'd blown it already. "That doesn't reach your eyes."
She laughed. "Isn't the phrase, 'the warmth never reached her eyes'?"
"I see warmth there."
She just looked at him for a while. "You are a charmer."
That gave him a chance to use some humor to take the edge off this failing conversation. "So, wanna be my girlfriend?"
She frowned rather than laughed.
He guessed that was a sore subject. "Sorry. Recent?"
She nodded. "Six months."
"Oh well, this date is doomed. In another month, I might have had a chance."
She laughed out loud at that. "Is… is seven months how long before a new relationship can start?"
He chuckled at that. "My experience is that five years hasn't been enough."
Rosa brought their food at that point, so they stopped talking and started eating.
When Sarah rolled her eyes and moaned, he knew. "Good, huh?"
"It's amazing!" She then refocused on him. "Thank you so much for bringing me here, Chuck."
He smiled, hearing that.
"You were going to tell me about yourself," she reminded him.
He proceeded to tell her about his current job as a software engineer. He didn't mention the five years since college stuck in the Buy More, or that college either.
"Wow. Geeky." He would have picked up on that in the past, but he just smiled now. "Been doing it long?"
Ahh. Well, he couldn't lie. He looked down at his hands. "Two months." Her silence forced him to add. "Before that I worked as an IT Support guy."
She could tell he didn't want to talk about that, but she didn't want him to feel bad about it. "Talented." He raised his head, and his look made her smile. "In an IT kind of way," she qualified. "I don't know about your other talents." Then, she thought about what she had just said. Why did I say that? What talent am I implying?
Chuck obviously didn't pick up any innuendo and replied, "Enough about me. Tell me about why you came to Los Angeles."
She had this. "I left my last job and wanted a change of scenery. This seemed as good a place as any."
"Not seeking fame and fortune then?" She looked at him puzzled, so he continued, "In acting."
At first she had a moment of panic. Did he know about her past? That in the last ten years, she had always been playing a part, pretending to be someone she wasn't? Or even her previous ten years with her dad? Then she realized what he meant. "Do I look like an actress?"
He clearly stated, "You look like a movie star, Sarah."
She smirked. "Do movie stars wear headscarves?"
"Probably, when trying to hide who they are," he replied.
She chuckled. "Maybe the lack of makeup helps, too. Makes me less noticeable?"
"I think you'd be noticeable anywhere, Sarah, with or without makeup." Then he realized how forward that was and blushed slightly.
She pondered that comment. Men often told her how beautiful she was, but that was when she was in full warpaint. Here, she was not. She knew the CIA had made her look so much better than she had in her youth, and she was almost dismissive of her looks now, but she did appreciate Chuck's comment. "Thank you, Chuck."
That gave him the confidence to say more. "No, thank you." He smiled at her puzzled expression. "I get to look at a beautiful woman as long as you have the meal in front of you." He leaned forward and said quietly, "I've caught you because you couldn't run, and now I am keeping you with delectable food."
She laughed out loud at that. Thinking to herself, the trapped assassin, but not really worried about it. That was now her past.
He managed to wheedle out some more of her past, namely that she'd been born in San Diego, so this was almost "coming home" as he called it. She had never thought about that. Coming to California had seemed a random choice before, but now she wondered.
She also told him that she never saw either of her parents and hadn't been with her mom since she was seven. All of this was true. She had never told anyone about her mom, and only Graham knew about her dad. Somehow, this man drew her out, made her tell him these things. The old Agent Walker would have been worried and suspicious, but she now found it surprisingly therapeutic to tell someone.
He, in turn, told her about his mom leaving the family when he was nine and his dad leaving when he was thirteen.
As he told her about Ellie and his story, some of which she already knew, she gazed at him. His slightly olive skin and dark brown hair were attractive, as were his features. She knew she shouldn't be thinking such thoughts. He was her friend's brother, not a potential suitor. However, she couldn't help imagining…
They had finished the meal, and he had brought her back to her hotel room. He should leave, but he was worried about her being left on her own. Chuck found he didn't want to walk away from this mysterious but delightful woman. She had opened up a little during the conversation at the restaurant, but there was so much more he wanted, needed, to know about her.
He had learned that she had worked abroad for the government. She had been to so many places that he would love to visit, and it made him jealous, but her telling him that she didn't really see much of those places, just the airport and the locations she had to work, eased that a bit. It felt like the training courses he had been on recently where he saw the airport in Washington DC, what he could see on the taxi journey from there to the hotel and then the walk to the training center and back. He had never gotten to see the sights, to feel the vibe of the city.
All the same, she had traveled the world. That was awesome.
However, her job itself was a mystery. She hadn't wanted to talk about it, saying it was confidential. That made him think she was some sort of spy, maybe a CIA operative. It would also tie in with her comments about it being a lonely life and one that she had left behind to, as she put it, 'discover herself.' He wished she could tell him some of her exploits, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.
Now, she was here in Los Angeles, not really knowing what to do with herself. Or where to stay, long term.
"What sort of place are you looking for?" he asked.
"An apartment, I guess. I would have said, living near a beach would be great, but I may not want to show my leg or shoulder for some time. Now I just want easy access."
There's a one-bedroom apartment just over the way from where we live that is coming free soon," he offered.
Having heard about his new job and that until now he'd been living with his sister and her boyfriend, Sarah asked, "Why aren't you moving into that, now you can afford it?"
He blushed. "Well, I had thought about it, but I'm in no rush."
"Is this you just trying to help a lost soul?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes.
Their conversation had been so open, so freeing. He really had felt better talking to her than anyone before, other than Ellie, Devon and Morgan. He decided to be totally honest. "Sarah, I do want to help you, but, to be honest, I really like you and would love to see more of you. Sorry if that feels too much." He looked down, thinking it really did sound that way. Why did I say that?
Sarah watched him silently berate himself for being so forward. However, she had felt the same. She'd never expected to be drawn out like she had, but it had felt good. She'd not told him anything she shouldn't and hadn't even told him what her job had been. She felt closer to this man, and his sister, than anyone she'd met before. Maybe it was just that she was trying, that it wasn't these two people, but her instincts told her otherwise. These two were, she suspected, not typical at all. They were open, warm and friendly. She liked them both. Living opposite them would be good.
She also felt that this guy would not push her, would be a friend, or more, depending on what she wanted. Nothing he had said gave her that feeling, but her gut told her it was so. She could see them getting closer, or at least she could when she recovered. She wondered what it would be like to dance with him. Would he dance or be one of the men who just watched? I want to find out. She smiled inwardly as she considered that possibility.
Whatever happened, or didn't, between them, she was sure that life here in Los Angeles would be better having friends like Chuck and Ellie Bartowski.
Maybe this would help her find herself. Finding a place to stay was a start. Having friends was certainly new for her and she found it appealing. "No, Chuck. Not too much at all. In fact, I'd like that."
His beaming smile made that decision feel even better. "I'll see what I can do."
She didn't want him to leave, nor did she want to be on her own again tomorrow, but she had no real reason for asking him to see her.
Chuck really wanted to see her again. He decided to take a shot. "Sarah, will you be okay here?" He nearly said 'on your own,' but that could be taken the wrong way.
Sarah could see nothing but someone worrying about her. He wasn't trying to force himself on her. She wasn't worried. Even with an arm and leg out of action, she could still take care of herself. "I'm fine, Chuck. Thank you."
"Can I come and see you tomorrow?" His eagerness thrilled her.
"Please," she responded, equally eager.
As he walked out of the room, smiling and waving to her, she waved back.
Chuck was trying hard not to think that she liked him as much as he already liked her, but he was determined to find out when he could. He was going to pursue this amazing woman; not too much, but he thought that maybe, just maybe, he might have a chance, a shot if you will.
As she sat on her bed, Sarah thought about the guy who had taken her for that wonderful meal. She also thought of his sister.
Moving to Los Angeles seemed so much more positive now. Maybe she did have a shot at normal life here. Thinking of Chuck Bartowski, he had jokingly asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend and at the time it did just feel like a joke, but now she wondered; maybe she had a shot at a relationship here, too. Two shots of pain leading to two shots at a future?
A/N: Just two people finding each other, both needing more than they expected.
I was planning to leave this one here, with both of them hopeful. Captainrick944 thinks I should continue it. I already have five stories on the go, but maybe I will come back to this.
