I don't own Chuck

He didn't sleep much that night. Ellie didn't understand. If he could get the Intersect working, then he could be the man Sarah deserved. He just had to find something to do right, and that would start the Intersect working, he knew it would. Once he did that, he could fix him and Sarah. He finally drifted off, a new plan in place.

Chuck opened his eyes, his neck hurting. He tried to straighten, but his foot caught the edge of the couch, making him wince. "Good, you're up," he heard her say. He sat up the best he could, feeling stiff from sleeping on the couch. "Your bed has been delivered."

"Delivered?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna test you," Sarah told him. "You couldn't escape from that chair, but let's see what you can do when it comes to building something."

"What, did you get my bed from Ikea?" Chuck asked grinning. Sarah took a sip of coffee.

}o{

"I had to ask," Chuck muttered two hours later. "I don't get it. I've built stands for the Buy More. I've built desks, I've put together entertainment centers, but this…this is ridiculous." He looked at the bed, that looked put together correctly, but also noticed a pile of pieces left over. "Maybe they were extras?" He pushed them under the bed, and went out to get the mattress and box springs off of the porch.

}o{

"Do you have everything delivered?" Chuck asked a few hours later, as they were both eating a salad.

"I have someone in town I trust," Sarah answered. "Since this was originally a safe house for me, most everything I need is here. But for fresh things, or furniture for someone I wasn't planing on, I have it delivered."

Chuck took a bite, and didn't say anything. She didn't say it with malice, just matter-of-factly. He was trying to think what to say next when he heard a car horn.

"Stay here," she said. She went to the door and looked out, her hand at her waist, gripping her gun. She relaxed, adjusted her shirt, covering her gun, and went outside. She came back a few minutes later. "This is for this afternoon."

"Are those yoga mats?" Chuck asked. Sarah didn't say anything, she just looked at him. "I don't understand, am I going to meditate to clear my mind to flash." She just stood there, shook her head and walked into the living room. "What did I say?"

}o{

Chuck had joined her in the living room, but she sent him back to his room to change clothes, specifically into a pair of loose shorts and a tee shirt. He came back out, and they began with simple poses. "Our goal here is to start preparing your body for what it needs to do, to stretch out," she explained. "Also, if you're concentrating on this, and it clears your mind, great. The goal here is to get limber.

"This isn't bad," Chuck said, sitting cross-legged. He could do this. This he could do. This was his shot. All he had to do was start flashing and he could fix everything.

"It's literally called the Easy pose," Sarah told him. "Let's try Butterfly." She pressed the soles of her feet together in front of her, lowering her legs, until her knees and legs were on the ground.

"No problem," Chuck said, lowering his knees, feeling the pulling in his legs, the muscles protesting. He fought to keep the wince off of his face.

"If it's tight, you don't want to go all the way," Sarah said. "Gently bounce your legs, that will gently stretch the muscles."

"I got it," he insisted. He could do this. He saw Sarah shaking her head. "What?"

"Nothing," she said, continuing to shake her head. "Nothing." She brought her legs back in front of her, shifted, and laid down on the mat. Chuck copied her. She lifted up gently, lying her arms on the mat, her elbows making a "L". "Okay, this is called Sphinx." She pushed herself up, and bent her head back. Her hand was straight on the ground. "This is Cobra."

Chuck was following along. "Holy crap," he muttered, feeling things in his back pull.

Sarah lowered her head to look straight ahead and came down about half way with her body, her arm bent. "And this is Upward Dog." She pushed herself up with Chuck following. She was on her knees and hands looking forward. "This is called Cow. Feel the stretch in your neck?"

"YEP!" Chuck replied.

She arched her back, pulling her stomach up, and put her head down. "And this is the Cat."

"The blood rush to your head is amazing," Chuck said, feeling a bit dizzy.

She pushed back and sat on her heels, her face to the mat, her arms on the mat facing forward. "And this is baby."

Chuck was having trouble getting back on his heels. "How long will it take for me to be able to do what you're doing?"

"No idea," Sarah admitted, standing. "Now we're going to try Warrior pose."

"Ooo, I can do that one," he said, bounding up. Sarah didn't reply, she just stepped forward with her right foot, sinking forward until her right knee was the shape of a ninety degree angle, her left leg stretched out. She spread her arms, right arm pointing over her right knee, her left arm point back over her left leg. She heard Chuck stumble and nearly fall over.

"Widen your stance," Sarah told him, looking over at him. Chuck moved his feet further apart front to back from each other, deepening his stance. "No, not like that, further apart left to right, you don't want to go too deep."

Chuck did as she said, and then after he found his balance, he sunk lower into the pose. "See, I can do it!"

"I see," Sarah said, watching him, her lips a thin line.

"This actually feels great!"

"Uh-huh," Sarah said, looking forward, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

}o{

Chuck lay in his bed, and fell asleep quickly that night. About an hour after falling asleep, his hamstring cramped and he screamed as his leg shot backwards, nearly kicking himself in the ass. He moved quickly and the bed collapsed, leaving the mattress on the floor. The door flew open, and he felt two strong hands massaging the cramp out.

"There's a reason I said not to go too deep in that stretch," Sarah told him, rubbing shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," Chuck told her, beginning to breathe normal as she worked out the cramp. "I should have listened to you."

"Yeah," she said, helping him up. "Go to my bed."

"Thank you," he said. He limped toward her room as he saw her head to the couch. "Sarah-"

"Don't, Chuck," Sarah told him. "Just get some rest, we'll deal with things tomorrow."

He went into her room, and laid down on the bed. "Will we?" he asked the quiet room softly.