OK, I'm getting better. I got my Thanksgiving story in while it is still Thanksgiving weekend. But I have to admit: I really had to stretch to come up with this one. I know this is not something any of the characters did in the show, but I wanted to show a bit of a competition between Chuck and Sarah and Ellie and Devon. Actually, the story originally involved everybody racing in different parts of the country, like Morgan and Alex in Phoenix and Casey and Verbanski in suburban D.C. But I went with the "less is more" approach and just kept it two the two couples.

The two charities I mentioned are actual charities in each city that were the beneficiaries of the respective races. And the Italian restaurant at the end was a little nod to what I've been doing the last few Thanksgivings: going out with my brother, my nephews, and their families. Three years doing this, and I have yet to eat any turkey.

Anyway, please enjoy this story and leave reviews if you can. And thanks to everybody for all of their encouragement over these past few years (I needed it), and don't forget to check out the Chuck FanFiction site on Facebook.

Thanks!

City Hall – Los Angeles, CA
November 25, 2021
7:50 AM PST

"I cannot believe we are doing this."

"Oh, come on. The Midnight Mission is a good charity. You said so yourself."

"Can't we just…give them money? We recovered enough from the government to buy every homeless person their very own apartment."

"You know how I don't like to be challenged. And by Ellie, of all people."

"It wasn't a challenge; it was just a bet. You know how many bets I've lost to her over my lifetime?"

"Well, that's one thing I'm going to make sure you and I don't have in common."

Chuck sighed as he continued to get limber. Ellie and Devon were both slated to work at Schulman Medical Center in Chicago the day after Thanksgiving, so they couldn't visit Chuck and Sarah for the holiday. It was bad enough they couldn't rely on her to prepare her traditional extravagant Thanksgiving meal. But now he had been roped into doing something he never did before in his life…and with good reason.

Given the harsh winters of Chicago, Ellie and Devon quickly realized how much people appreciated the summer months in their new hometown, and they quickly ingratiated themselves into the culture. They started running together as a couple, taking jogs along Lake Michigan while Mary Bartowski got some quality time with Clara. They became so obsessed with it, they decided to make a bet with Chuck and Sarah: the duo who performed the best at the Turkey Trot in their city won a weekend getaway. Chuck immediately protested based on his physical strength…or lack thereof. Everyone agreed on a compromise: ten seconds of time would be subtracted from their 5K runs for every $100 they could raise for charity. Ellie and Devon were certainly motivated, as the Greater Chicago Food Depository was one of the charities they supported during their off-hours.

"I still maintain this was a bad idea," Chuck whined.

"Noted," Sarah replied. She then sat on the ground where Chuck was and pulled his leg further out to stretch it even more.

"AAAAGGGHHH!" Chuck screamed. "My legs don't stretch that far! I'm not you!"

Sarah made a face. "You need to be as loose as you can be," she replied with zero remorse, working on Chuck to get him more limber. "I don't want you collapsing on the course or be so cramped at the end you can't even walk back to the car."

"Don't worry. I'm already there."

A horn sounded to warn the runners the race would start in one minute. Sarah pulled Chuck to his feet and walked in place to keep warming up. Chuck put his Bluetooth headphones on his ears and checked his smartphone in his back pocket. He had prepared a playlist for the race, hoping it would motivate him. Also, Ellie and Devon planned to call from their race to give updates, so he didn't want to miss that.

"Runners, get ready," the announcer called. "Set…"

He fired a starter's pistol, and the 4,000 runners participating headed out onto the course to the cheers of the crowd. Chuck hit the play button on his headphones, and the theme to Rocky blasted out. His opening playlist song was a no-brainer. Sarah, on the other hand, was content to just run without any music, going at a brisk pace but not so fast that Chuck couldn't keep up.

"We're a married couple, Chuck," she called over her shoulder to him, as he was two steps behind her. "We should be running side-by-side."

"Actually, it works better for me if we run like this."

"What makes it better?"

Chuck looked Sarah up and down, her sports top and tight running shorts accentuating every part of her athletic figure. "Motivation."

He glanced behind him to discover about two dozen guys had the same motivation he did. "As you were," Chuck said in annoyance, holding up his left hand to show his wedding band. "She's spoken for."

Chuck turned back and ran a bit faster to keep up with Sarah as they passed the one-kilometer mark. His choice of I Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd seemed to help him keep pace with Sarah, who seemed to be getting faster as the race went on. But his breathing was starting to labor.

They passed the halfway point when a call came in. Chuck pressed a button on his headphones. "Ellie?"

"How's the race?"

"Doing…fine," Chuck huffed. "Halfway home."

"We just finished. It's cold out here in Lincoln Park, but it was so worth it!"

"What was your time?"

"Thirty minutes and 52 seconds"

"Isn't that slow for a 5K?"

"5K?" Ellie was momentarily confused. "Oh, that was the time for our 10K."

"10K?! ?!" Chuck wanted to collapse right then and there. "We were only supposed to do a 5K."

"Well, we were having too much fun, and it's so cold here, we needed to run another 5K just to stay warm."

"Then wear a fur coat! I'm not running an extra 5K!"

"You don't have to," Ellie replied. "Just take our 10K time and cut it in half. We ran the 5K in fifteen minutes and 26 seconds. Oh, and we raised $800 for the Food Depository, so take a minute and twenty off for that. You two have to beat fourteen minutes and six seconds. Best of luck. You enjoy your run while Devon and I pick out the weekend getaway you're going to be giving us."

Chuck growled in fury. "What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"How much money did we raise for this?" Chuck responded.

"$1,200. Why?"

"Ellie and Devon finished in 14:06 when you subtract their seconds. We have to finish in 16:06 or better to win."

Sarah checked her watch. Her eyes widened. "We have to finish the last five hundred meters in less than ninety seconds!"

"Oh, God," Chuck cried, his lungs already in as much pain as his knees were. "We're never going to win."

"Oh, no," Sarah replied forcefully. "I'm not losing to those two."

"I don't think I can make it."

"Tell you what, if we pull it off…"

"What?"

Sarah whispered something in his ear. It did the trick.

"Let's do it!" Chuck shouted as he found another gear and began to run hard. Sarah kept up with him as they sprinted towards the finish, the beats of Mötley Crüe's Kickstart My Heart blasting out of his headphones.

They made the final turn and headed to the finish line at City Hall, the sweat pouring down Chuck. He could barely see with the perspiration stinging his eyes, but he wouldn't be denied. Sarah and he crossed the finish line, and he tumbled to the ground, eventually rolling onto his back.

"Did…we…do it?' Chuck panted, unable to even move. Sarah glanced back at the timer above the finish line.

"Sixteen minutes…" she began in a melancholic voice, making Chuck moan in agony.

"…and TWO SECONDS!" she screamed in joy.

Chuck lifted his head…the only part of him he could move…and stared at Sarah. "We did it?"

"We did it!" she cried, going to him and hugging him tightly. "Should we tell them?"

"Absolutely," he said.

He tried to pull himself up…and couldn't.

"Maybe in a few hours," Chuck droned, his body aching all over.

Echo Park – Los Angeles, CA
November 25, 2021
9:00 PM PST

Chuck and Sarah made it home after a nice Thanksgiving dinner…in an Italian restaurant that was open for the holiday. Although the restaurant had a very nice Thanksgiving turkey special they could order, neither of them could handle anything more than a plate of spaghetti…and still had plenty to bring home.

Chuck lay on the bed. The hour-long shower and four-hour nap he took when they got home worked wonders. He looked up to see Sarah enter wearing some extremely provocative lingerie.

"You did a great job today, Chuck," she said in a low, smooth voice. "And I did promise you this if we beat Ellie and Devon."

Chuck was actually shivering in anticipation. "I'm ready," he replied with the enthusiasm of a ten-year-old on their first trip to Disneyland.

Sarah reached the bed…and pulled out a box from underneath it. She handed it to Chuck.

"A PlayStation Five!" Chuck exclaimed. "I've been wanting one of these for so long."

"You earned it," Sarah replied with a smile. "Do you want to set it up? Maybe we can find a game both of us would like."

Chuck looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe tomorrow. After all, I don't have to work on Black Fridays anymore. I've got something better in mind."

Sarah gave a knowing grin. She held out her hand and Chuck took it, gently pulling her into bed with him. They started kissing passionately. He started to roll over towards her.

"Uh, Sarah?" Chuck gritted through his teeth, clearly still in a lot of pain.

She gently pushed him back and slid on top of him. "Not to worry," she purred. "This works for me, too."

They continued to kiss in the bed.