A/N: I love Scrooged. I love it so much. The end always makes me cry. Why are you telling us this David? Because at some point, there will be a misstep, but I promise you, the payoff will be absolutely worth it. Thanks for reading, and yeah, if I do this right, you are gonna need your Die A Betes medicine before I'm done.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck


"So, there he is, towel tied around his neck," Ellie continued.

"You really don't have to keep going," Chuck nearly begged.

"Shhh," Sarah said putting a finger over his mouth. She knew she had partaken in too many mojitos, but she felt safe here with these people. With her brother and his soon to be wife… and with Chuck. It was just the four of them now, the rest of the family having already left the restaurant.

Sarah had seen the mojitos on the menu and said she wanted one or five, but had to drive. Chuck had told her he would make sure she got home safely… but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to drive her car. She had giggled and told him that if he would be the designated driver, he could drive her car and her all night if he wanted. "I neeeeeeed to hear this."

"I don't know that you need to," Chuck protested, laughing at her.

"Yes, I do," Sarah said. "It heals my soul," she admitted, sobering the whole table. "You had someone there for you as a kid, without your parents around. I didn't." She looked over at Devon. "Until later, and then…" She shrugged. "Damn it, drunk-Sarah ruined it."

"You did not," Ellie told her, reaching over, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I'd like to hope I'm family, and that you're my sister, and someone keeps telling me family is just there for each other."

"They are," Devon agreed, grinning.

"Yeah, they are," Sarah said, squeezing Ellie's hand. "I got a sister."

"Does that make me your brother?" Chuck asked her.

"Nope," Sarah replied. "You're my Chuck." Chuck's eyes widened but didn't say anything. "Now hush… my sister is telling me about your Halloween superhero outfit."

"Yes, hush, Chuck," Ellie parroted, grinning at her brother. "So, here he is, towel tied around his neck, wearing his Robin Underoos."

"Underoos?" Sarah asked, confused. "Is that an Australian term or something? It sounds Australian."

"It is," Chuck said, nodding.

"It is not," Ellie said, giving Chuck a glare.

"You are really going to tell this whole damn story, aren't you?" Chuck muttered, as he sighed and surrendered.

"I am," Ellie said, grinning. "Underoos were underwear with superhero graphics and designs on them. They were quite popular in the seventies and the eighties. This one," she said, indicating an increasingly mortified Chuck, "had to have a set, and when he did, he decided it was the perfect Robin costume."

"I was eight, Ellie. Eight!" Chuck protested. Ellie shrugged, not caring, quite proud of herself.

"I bet he was freaking adorable," Sarah said.

"She's drunk way too much, and might have alcohol poisoning," Chuck told Devon.

"She's fine, bro," Devon told him. "I've seen the picture, you were adorable. Still are."

"Awe, thanks," Chuck said, making the whole table laugh. Sarah suddenly quit laughing, her eyes narrowing. He leaned toward her. "You okay?"

"Wait!" She declared, sitting up and looking at Ellie. "You have pictures?!"

"Oh God," Chuck groaned. Ellie whipped out her phone gleefully. A little too gleefully, for Chuck's taste. "You have pictures of me in my underwear?"

"Listen, you insisted then that it was not underwear, it was the same outfit that Robin wore. So, it was a superhero costume, and not underwear," Ellie reminded him.

"She's got you there, bro," Devon said with a shrug.

"Looooook at you!" Sarah said in glee, looking at the pictures of Chuck in his Underoos and the towel. She turned to him. "You are the most adorable superhero in the history of the entire world.

"You can't name one other superhero," Chuck countered.

"Captain Shield-Throwy?" Sarah offered. Chuck had to look away, not to laugh. Sarah noticed this, and decided to double-down. "Iron-Suit Dude?" His body began to shake as he tried to hold in his laughter. "I've got it! Shoot-Webs-Out-His-Butt Guy!" Chuck laid his head on the table and burst into laughter, making the whole table do the same.

"God, I've missed you, Sar," Devon said, after he had sobered from laughing.

"Missed you too, big bro. I love you."

"Love you, Sar," Devon said, reaching across the table and taking her hand, squeezing it.

"Love you, Chuck," Ellie said in a sing-song voice.

"Blow it out your ear," he replied in a similar sing-song, his head still on the table. Ellie burst out laughing. He sat up, grinning. "Love you, El."

}o{

"Drive safe," Chuck told Ellie and Devon as they pulled away from the curb. He turned back to Sarah, who was leaning against the restaurant wall, looking extremely happy. "I take it you had a good time?"

"I diiiiiid," she drawled. "I just hate that it has to end."

"Not ready to go back to work?" Chuck asked her. She shook her head. He studied her for a moment, thinking. "Trust me?"

"I do," Sarah replied, nodding. "Don't break it."

"Promise," Chuck told her, crossing his heart on his shirt.

}o{

"Do I also need to add not to murder me?" Sarah asked, as the two got out of the car and headed to the deserted beach. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Taking my shoes and socks off," Chuck told her. "Sometimes you need to feel the sand between your toes."

"That just sounds weird," Sarah replied. He gave her a sad smile. "What?"

"I know it's weird," Chuck admitted. "But…" he paused.

"No, please. Go on," Sarah implored him.

Chuck nodded. "In my mind, I know that walking barefoot in the sand is one way to connect to the earth." Sarah blinked, having never thought about that before. "Walking that way on ground – in the sand – leads to pondering, and thinking more deeply about things. It's also a way to connect to the earth, and a roundabout way to connect back to you self."

"That's deep," Sarah replied. "Go on."

"So, I do love to walk on the beach barefoot and squish." Chuck paused after using that word. He drew himself up and tried to look regal. "I know, a very technical term for this process! I am posh!" Sarah laughed at him.

When she sobered, he continued. "I like to feel the squish of the sand between my toes. I also love the feeling of standing at the water's edge as the waves rustle in along the shore, and then sweep back into the ocean. The water rushes back, and seems to draw you in as your feet sink into the wet sand. There is a beautiful give-and-take at the ocean's edge. Feet are the small areas of our bodies that touch the earth, and when we touch it sole-to-soul, there is much we can experience and meditate upon."

"That's beautiful," Sarah admitted.

"When was the last time you walked barefoot on the earth, and did you feel the earth's soul through your soles?" Chuck asked her.

"I wish I could," Sarah said with a shrug. "I can't. I'm a mercenary, Chuck." She took a deep breath. "I am my father's daughter. Sure, I can enjoy a few fleeting moments like tonight, but I'm just like him."

"Well, I don't know him, so I can't say if that's right or wrong. But here's what I have been told," Chuck countered. "You say fleeting moments, but I know of a time when you made an impression on a guy I consider my brother." Sarah looked away, a shy smile on her face. "I know that guy lights up every time he talks about you, and you haven't done him wrong. So, Sarah Mae Walker…"

"That's not my middle name," she said softly, a warm smile on her face.

"I don't believe you," Chuck told her, shrugging. "What I do know is you think you are these things. You keep telling yourself that it is all you know."

"It is all I know," Sarah pointed out.

"For now," Chuck told her. She tilted her head. "You made a mistake."

"Oh?" Sarah asked, grinning, enjoying this way more than she should, and she knew it.

"You told me I am your friend, your navigator, and you are going to get to know how to treat people. How to be that person you think you cannot be. The person that is inside of you," Chuck told her.

"That person isn't in there, Chuck," Sarah told him.

"Yeah, it is," Chuck said softly. "Devon's seen her."

"That was a long time ago," Sarah argued, fighting tears.

"I've seen her," Chuck added, stepping toward her. The damn broke, and tears fell. He opened his arms, and she held onto him as she sobbed.

}o{

Sometime later found the two of them sitting there on the beach. Sarah's head was on Chuck's shoulder, and they sat there quietly as the waves crashed into the shore. She watched and listened, absorbing it all, still shaken to the core by this man she had just met, telling her that she didn't have to be a way she thought she did, that she always had been.

"You okay?" he asked softly. She couldn't help but smile. Awesome had always said Chuck worried about everyone. She lifted her head and held his gaze.

"Yes," she replied. "Thank you for what you said earlier."

Chuck simply shrugged. "Just telling you the truth, Sarah."

"I don't know about that," she replied, lying her head back down on his shoulder. There was something about him, something that made her instinctively trust him. She knew it was more than just Devon talking about him. "I was right to trust you, that I know." Chuck sighed deeply, and she lifted her head. She saw worry on his face. "What?"

"I think there's really something you should know," Chuck said, looking down at the sand and then back up at her. "My college roommate… was Bryce Larkin."

Sarah's eyes went wide.

}o{

Time passed, as Chuck told her about his and Bryce's friendship and what Bryce had told him about Sarah. She found herself chuckling. "And you still think I'm a good person?"

"Sarah, did you make the best choice in that decision in Paris?" She gave him an amused look. "Absolutely not." She couldn't help but fall forward laughing. "But," he continued softly, "you did the best that you could. And I think there's another reason you were like you were, to him."

"So I have an excuse?" Sarah asked.

"Absolutely not," Chuck told her. She held onto his arm, laughter overtaking her. "He wasn't the one." She sobered when he said that, the smile remaining on her face. "When you find the one… I gotta believe the woman I've seen, the one that I know is in there… she's gonna guide you."

"What if I don't listen?" she asked softly.

"What if you do?" Chuck countered. She shook her head at him, grinning, and shoulder bumped him. She turned back to the ocean and watched the water, continuing its slow, but continual, assault on the beach. They sat there quietly, enjoying the closeness of each other, the nearness.

"What do you think about out here, Chuck?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Oh, a lot of things," Chuck replied. She turned to him. "I think about how one drop of water, it can't do a lot, but a lot of water together…" He gestured toward the waves crashing. "They can do amazing things. It makes me realize that while I can't change many things by myself, I can provide the tools for other to help them… all of us… achieve our goals."

"What's your dream, Chuck?" she asked softly.

"To open a center for disadvantaged kids," he replied. "I want to provide STEM opportunities to them. I want somewhere they can go, feel loved, feel safe to be themselves, whatever that looks like." He turned to her. "I want something that would have protected kids like us."

"I wasn't disadvantaged," Sarah said, with a shake of her head.

"I'll grant you that you had economic means, and some privilege in life, but you didn't have people support you like you should have," Chuck countered. Sarah stared at him for a moment. "What?"

"You're almost too good to be real," she said. She reached over and poked him.

"Hey," he said, laughing.

"You feel real," she said.

"I promise you, I am," Chuck told her. She moved quickly, her hands quickly on his cheeks, her lips capturing his. She could no longer ignore the current that ran between them. She could no longer ignore the attraction she'd had for this man since she first saw him, and how it had done nothing but build over the evening. She could no longer ignore that for the first time in her life, she felt more than a want when it came to the opposite sex… she felt a need. "Hey, hey," he said gently, pulling away.

"I get it, Bryce was your friend," Sarah said, nodding, and looking away, embarrassed.

"Uh, no," Chuck said, gently cupping her chin with his finger, and turning her head to look at him. "I'm your friend, that you trust."

"I think I'm showing you that I trust you," Sarah quipped. Chuck tilted his head and grinned. "Okay, fine. I get your point. You're not attracted to me that way."

"Uh, no, again," Chuck told her.

"Then what is the problem?" she asked, making him chuckle.

"Sarah," he said warmly. She thought she could get used to him saying her name like that. "You told me you trusted me. You told me I was your friend, and navigator."

"You are," she told him.

"Then, right now, in the state you are in-"

"I'm not that drunk," she insisted.

"Maybe not, but tonight, you drank quite a bit. You've shared quite a bit, and you have made yourself emotionally vulnerable, something I don't think you do often."

"I don't," she admitted in a small voice.

"I'm not going to take advantage of that," Chuck told her. "I would hate myself if I did."

She studied him for a moment, shook her head, and laughed, pushing a loose hair out of her face. "I like you, Chuck."

"I would hope so," he replied, making her giggle. "I like you, a lot. And I meant every single thing I told you tonight."

"Okay," she replied, nodding. "Sorry about…" she gestured between them.

"Oh, please don't apologize," he said, making her laugh. "Trust me, part of me really wishes I would take you up on whatever was about to happen there."

"You might have gotten sand in places," Sarah said with a shrug.

Chuck couldn't help but laugh at that.

}o{

"I thought you turned me down," Sarah said sometime later as he got out of her car and started to walk into the building with her.

"I am going to walk you to your door, and then leave," Chuck told her. "It's what a friend would do."

"I could drag you into my room," Sarah said, winking at him.

"You probably could," Chuck agreed.

"Do you really believe everything you said?" she asked softly, after she had pushed the elevator button to her floor. "Can I be that person?"

"Absolutely," he said, reaching over, taking her hand, and squeezing it. "I don't doubt it for a moment." She nodded, a grateful look on her face. The elevator doors opened, and the two walked to her door. "Okay, this is where I leave you."

"Wait a minute," she said softly. She wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him. After a second, she pulled away. "Wanted to give you something to remember me by."

"I don't think I could ever forget that," Chuck admitted. "Good night, Sarah," he said. He took her hand, and lightly kissed her knuckles, his eyes locked on hers.

"Wait a minute," she said, a little more forcefully than last time.

"Sarah," he said, with a warning tone, but a grin on his face.

"I need your phone, so I can put my number in there," she said with a one shoulder bounce. "I need my navigator." Chuck shook his head, retrieved his phone, and handed it to her. After a few seconds of her tapping, she handed it back to him, grinning. Chuck looked at the screen. The contact read Sarah "not Mae" Walker.

"You could have just put down your middle name," Chuck told her, grinning.

"Well, I need some reason for you to come back and see me," Sarah teased.

"I'm pretty sure I can think of many," Chuck told her, making her feel a low heat deep within her. She put her hand on his chest and pushed him away. "Sorry, was that bad?"

"No," Sarah told him. "If I didn't push you back, I was going to drag you in here." She saw him swallow. She opened the door, stepped through and looked back at him. "Last chance," she said, eyebrows raised.

"Good night, Sarah," Chuck told her.

"You're a good one," Sarah told him. "Good night." With that, she entered the apartment, and shut the door. Chuck stood there for a moment. "Go home," she yelled through the door, making both laugh.

And he did.


A/N: Next time:

"What is going on?" Morgan asked.

"Long, drawn out and complicated?" Devon asked. "Or short, to the point, but I'll probably miss a few details?"

"Do the short one, chances are I'd miss a few details in the long drawn out one," Morgan admitted.

"Okay," Devon said, nodding. "My sister, Sarah, is here to buy Constellation Electronics. She's met Chuck, pretty sure both have a thing for each other, and Ellie and I are staying out of it, which means you are staying out of it, which means…"

"She can't know everything?" Morgan asked.

Oh my. Also, please note that fanfiction . Net has changed and to receive notification emails, you must go opt in. Also, it appears to reset either every 90 days or every 6 months. (There is conflicting information on the site itself.) Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.