The Nerd Versus the P.I. Family

By Steampunk . Chuckster

A/N: Congratulations. I don't know why, really. I just feel like maybe people in general need some encouragement these days. So congrats. Enjoy this chapter.

Summary: Sarah Walker has uprooted her life, leaving her job with the LAPD and going it alone as a private investigator, all in the hopes it provides her with less dangerous stakes and a schedule she can control so that she can handle her most important job, raising her toddler, a bit easier. But when the single parent thinks her computer might've been targeted by a criminal, she has to request help from the unlikeliest of sources: The Buy More Nerd Herd.

Disclaimer: I do not own CHUCK, I do not own its characters, I am not making money from posting this.


The apartment was so quiet when she got home, dropping her keys in the bowl by the door, letting her bag drop off of her shoulders and land by the entryway table. As she flicked the lights on in the empty living room, and did the same in the kitchen as she stepped into it, she slumped against the counter and just stood there for a few minutes.

A smile oh so slowly pulled at the edges of her mouth.

She just as slowly lifted her hand and pressed her fingers to her lips, before she lowered them again and shook her head.

Biting her lip, she let out a long breath. Then she methodically moved to the cabinet, opening it to get a cup out, filling it with water and taking a few long gulps.

The sound of the glass clinking against the granite countertop as she set it down almost seemed to pull her out of a trance and she blinked, looking at her surroundings as though she had no clue how she'd ended up here, standing in her own kitchen.

That had just been a date.

She'd never gone on a date like that. Ever. And now that she thought about it, the fact that she'd felt comfortable enough to ask him if they could take it easy and chill tonight because she was so tired, on what was only their second date, was just…so weird. How had he not been weirded out by that?

Instead, he made her dinner. For fuck's sake, he made an entire casserole of macaroni and cheese. From scratch. It had been so far from her mind that anybody would ever do that, she hadn't even thought it was a possibility, and she'd bought fast food for them both.

This whole thing was just…weird.

It was so completely different from anything she'd ever experienced.

That was some date.

She heard the deedledeedle of her phone going off in her pocket then and she frowned, wondering who was texting now, knowing it was late, thanks to the amount of time she'd spent making out with Chuck Bartowski on his couch. That had actually happened.

"Holy shit," she breathed to herself as she pulled her cell out of her pocket. It was him.

Without realizing it, her face broke into a grin as she opened the text and peered down at it.

"Just opened my fridge to get some milk for these cookies I'm about to inhale and I saw the casserole dish with the macncheese and realized I DINT SEND YOU HOME WITH LEFTOVERS. IM SO SORRY."

She giggled, hopping up onto the counter and taking another sip of her water, just looking down at his text. She nibbled the inside of her cheek, smirking as she responded with, "Ya, how dare you? I can't believe you were so thoughtless." She added a wink to it just in case texting didn't translate to him that she was teasing.

She saw him responding immediately. "I wasnt raised right."

"Apparently not," she teased back. "I'll forgive you, though. Under one condition."

"Name it, private eye."

Beaming at her phone, she typed, "The next time you see my son, you sing that munchmunchyerlunch part of the ants go marching song to him. He'll LOVE IT."

She missed that kid, and she hit send as she wondered if he'd had fun with his grandparents, if he'd gone to bed without a fuss or if he'd given them trouble. It was too late to text either of her parents to ask.

And then she looked down at her phone and saw that Chuck hadn't responded. Crap. She reread what she'd texted him and groaned at herself. They were flirting and she dropped Max into the conversation out of nowhere. Chuck probably felt like someone poured a bucket of ice cold water over his head.

Not just that but using the words next time you see my son put a shit ton of pressure on Chuck, on her, on both of them. And it wasn't at all fair.

Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, she took a deep breath. She didn't want Max to be something she tiptoed around as she dated, especially when she found a guy she liked this much. But just dropping him into the conversation when they were flirting, and this early in this dating situation? It was like a freaking atom bomb.

Her phone quivered and beeped as he responded and she snatched it back up and looked.

A smile grew over her face again as she read, "Uh of course. You cant teach your son the ants go marching song without the munchyerlunch Sarah. You been depriving that child of all the fun parts of songs?"

Practically melting right off of the counter and ending up a puddle on her kitchen floor, Sarah texted back, "Chalk it up to bad parenting."

"Poor kid. :P "

She couldn't help wondering if she'd screwed up getting out of that date as quickly as she had. Yeah, it was late, and sure, she felt odd being out that late without it being for a case. And she was so used to needing to hurry home to be a mother to a two year old.

But as she typed up her response, her fingers stilled. Because she'd sort of freaked out a little, hadn't she? They'd been making out, everything had been fine—better than fine, because it turned out the self-proclaimed I.T. nerd was really good at it.

He'd played with the hem of her shirt, which had been fine…until his warm fingers had met the skin just over the waistband of her pants. And it was like a bolt of lightning had crashed through her. She'd wanted him so badly, so instantly, more than she'd ever wanted anyone or anything else.

It was so much more intense than anything she'd ever felt with anyone else, and she knew it for what it was. She wanted him to take her to his bed, and with only the slightest touch to her bare skin under her bellybutton.

She'd felt so out of control, and it had been so effortless for him, that she'd tensed and pulled back, using the only excuse she could think of.

And now she was here, in her own apartment, instead of in Chuck Bartowski's bed, having sex.

Carina would be so disappointed in her for this.

But also, Carina could go jump off a bridge after the shit she pulled with Chuck on the phone earlier. So whatever.

The truth was, Sarah was sort of disappointed in herself for it. And then at the same time, having sex on the second date just didn't feel…like something she should do this time. Maybe some other guy, she might. If she didn't care so much.

But she did care so much, and that was what scared her. Max was the only time ever in her life that caring a lot meant she was even more in control and focused than usual. When it came to men she was dating, if she cared enough about the outcome of the relationship, she fucked up. Like clockwork. It was the easiest way to keep herself and Max safe.

But she didn't want to fuck up here.

So as much as she didn't want to, she'd managed to get herself out of his apartment.

Eventually.

It had taken a really long time.

She just hadn't wanted to pull herself away. She'd wanted his arms to stay around her, so long and comfortable, his hands large and so gentle. And the way she could feel how much he loved it when she touched his hair.

It worried her how easily she fell into this place of both deep soul-enriching comfort and finger-tingling nervousness. It always came back to her fear of losing control. He made her feel too good, too easily. She let her guard down immediately with this guy, and with Max in her life, that just didn't feel…right.

And yet it all felt so right.

She was confused and wanted to hide. And then she wanted to dive in headfirst.

Fuck.

"Don't worry, he's used to it," she typed back. And then she added, because even though she felt like she was floundering a bit, she was also really, really good at faking it. "If you teach him that part of the song, there are a few things I might be able to teach you in exchange."

She hit send and left the kitchen altogether, walking down the hallway towards her bedroom. She stopped short of the door to her room and backtracked, literally walking backwards until she got to Max's room. She slowly pushed the door open and flicked on the light, looking at his empty bed and feeling a little morose.

Sure, she'd actually get to sleep in tomorrow, have her coffee, read part of a book or do some work, without a two year old boy jumping up and down and pulling at her arm to show her this or that thing that he'd just discovered with one of his toys. Or his sometimes grumpy mornings when he hadn't taken a long enough nap the day before and a full night's sleep still hadn't caught him up.

But she also just missed seeing that tuft of brown hair over his covers as he slept.

Sighing, she decided to make the most of this night of freedom from the sometimes exhausting responsibility of parenting, flicking the light off and leaving his room again, going to her own room.

The best way for her to have made the most of this night of freedom would have been staying in that apartment with the man she was extremely attracted to, the man she'd seriously desired as they lie tangled on his couch—the man she still desired right now, at this very moment. The best way for her to have made the most of her freedom would have been to have sex. Carina was right. She was… Well.

It was maybe something she needed.

But that wasn't to be. At least…not tonight.

So she took a shower instead, an extra long one, not having to worry about what mischief Max might get up to if she took longer than five minutes to shower.

And when she got out, she found Chuck's response waiting for her.

"Please tell me youre talking about teaching me how to play the tuba. Ive always wanted to learn!"

She laughed so hard, she literally fell into her bed.

Sarah Walker crawled under the covers and propped her phone on her knees, spending practically the rest of the night texting the curly haired nerd, until she fell asleep mid-typing, the phone slipping out of her limp fingers.

}o{

"Ow! Ow ow! Shit! Ow!"

Chuck doubled over as a cramp cut through his side, and he slowed to a stop.

Ellie slowed as well, though she continued to run in place, turning to face him. "I told you not to eat those onion chips before going for a run."

He glared at her, holding his side. "You said this would be a, quote, nice jog. I've been practically sprinting this whole time. Those were pre-jog chips, not pre-sprint chips."

His sister rolled her eyes and stopped running in place, instead putting a hand on her hip. "Chuck, you've got to get it together. Morgan is so bad for you."

"I know, but we both know that isn't something that's going to change."

That made her laugh. "True. Come on, we'll walk, weakling."

"Weakling? I could lift you up over my head right now and snap you in half. Fatalityyyyyyyyyy," he growled in his best Mortal Kombat voice.

"Oh my God," she groaned, laughing as she shook her head. He fell in next to her and they walked along the shore, close enough to the morning low-tide that they could feel the spray on their faces, but far enough away that it didn't lick up over their shoes and wet their socks. And then he recognized that quietude in her, that loud silence, that made him tense, because he knew that she was about to bring something up she'd been saving the last thirty minutes or so since they met at their favorite morning beach jog spot.

He braced himself for it, whatever it was.

"So… I, um, haven't heard much about the woman you were dating, the one who has a son. That still a thing, or…?" She pursed her lips, trying to affect nonchalance.

Chuck inwardly rolled his eyes. He should've known.

"Yeah, it's still a thing," he emphasized, giving her a look. Her lips pressed together in a thin line. "She's…busy, so…you know. And she has a child to take care of. So I can't just call her and be like, Let's go dancing! Get your dancing shoes on and lesgo!" He shrugged.

Ellie snorted. "Uh, I hope you wouldn't say that to any girl. Get your dancing shoes on and lesgo!" she mocked, laughing at him.

He shoved her. "Shut up, oh my God."

"No, really. Get your dancing shoes on? What are dancing shoes to you, Chuck? Do you think us girls get ready for clubbing and go 'All right, I'm grabbing my dancing shooooes!'" she teased him, still laughing.

"I hate you. I can't believe I turned out to be such a good person after you raised me," he groused, chuckling. "You know what I mean.""I do," she giggled, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "And it makes sense she'd be busy." But then she gave him a long look and he looked back, a droll look on his face.

"What…"

"What?" She shrugged innocently.

"You have a look on your face.""I don't—Okay, fine. I just… Have you seen her since we last talked even?"

His look turned offended. "Yes, I have, thank you!"

"I'm just asking!"

"Why? Trying to gauge whether or not she's actually interested in me so you can warn me ahead of time that I'm gonna get ghosted?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You've done it before, El."

"And I was right."

He glared. "Yeah, you were, but rub it in, why don't ya? 'Cause that felt super great at the time."

She winced. "Sorry. I don't mean to be glib. That girl seriously sucked though, Chuck."

"And? What's she got to do with the woman I'm seeing now?" He shoved his hands in the pockets of his running shorts. "She isn't ghosting me. Sarah's not that type of person. She isn't the type of person who just disappears and stops calling and texting when she loses interest."

"I see."

"She isn't!"

"I didn't disagree! I believe you!" Ellie held her hands up defensively. "And you said you've seen her since we had breakfast so it seems like it isn't a problem."

Chuck didn't respond.

Because the truth was that it had been three days since they'd texted until they both fell asleep in the early morning hours, the sun barely starting to lighten the sky outside of his window.

And they still didn't have any sort of plan to see each other again. Not that it meant there wouldn't be another date at some point. He just wondered when. He was going nuts wondering when. Her schedule was so crowded, her time limited. Meanwhile, there were days when he felt like all he had was time.

"I'm sure being a parent makes dating super hard," Ellie said, a sincere look of sympathy on her face as she looked out at the water. "I mean, I can't imagine how hard. You can't just up and go somewhere. It depends on your kid. Like, what if I want to get sushi? Kids don't like sushi. I'd have to get a sitter. And what if I couldn't get a sitter? No sushi for me. That sucks."

Chuck furrowed his brow at her. "I'm sure some kids like sushi."

"Sure, Chuck." She scoffed.

Chuckling, he shook his head. "Okay, well… Yeah. I'm pretty sure it is harder for her. And I guess I feel like it…changes the dynamic too."

Ellie was quiet for a bit. And then: "How do you mean?"

"I dunno. Higher stakes? I don't really know what I'm even saying," he said with a huff. "She's really hard to figure out."

His sister shrugged. "Do you really need to have her figured out, though? I mean, you just started dating. If you want to have her all figured out now, that's kind of a lot to put on a girl." She squinted at him thoughtfully.

It hit him squarely in the chest.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Why do you always have to be so insightful? It's annoying."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she snarked, giggling. "You're right," he groused, sighing. "I don't have to have her all the way figured out, though. I just…want to know what she is thinking at certain times." Like when she left his apartment when it wasn't even that late, right when they were in the middle of a really fantastic make-out session. Had he touched her wrong? Had he done something? Made a funny sound?

Because it had been so sudden. The way she'd pulled back, pulled into herself even.

But then she'd continued to kiss him, as if she was reluctant to leave, taking a long time to get to the front door, and then they'd made out at said front door, and she'd let him walk her to her car where they'd made out for another fifteen minutes, to the point where someone had teasingly whistled at them out of their window from above, which they'd ignored completely.

He felt the connection. She'd texted him soon after that about him teaching her son a verse from a song the "next time" he saw him. That didn't feel like something she'd do, just dangling her son out for him like a carrot, when she wasn't serious about there being a next time.

"I have news for you, brother. You're never going to know what a woman is thinking at any time. Let alone a woman you've just started to date."

"I knoooow," he whined. "I just mean that she…I don't know, seems hesitant sometimes. But not all the time, just…"

"Sometimes," she finished for him. He shrugged helplessly. "Hmm. You don't think maybe she's being protective? I mean, she has at least one thing to protect. Her son. But, you know, herself too."

Chuck frowned deeply. "I wouldn't do anything to endanger her son, or her."

"I don't mean that literally. You aren't physically a danger to them, obviously. But there's more at stake, like you said."

It made sense. And then something occurred to him. "Well, that might explain what her friend said to me on the phone when she called Sarah about a case the other night." Ellie gave him a look that was both curious and fascinated. "She got really serious and asked me if I intend on pursuing a real relationship with Sarah."

"Whoa." Ellie gave him a wide-eyed look.

"Yeah." He matched her look.

"That isn't intimidating at all. Like, that's almost worse than me." He gave her a look. "Okay, fine, it's just as bad as me." Chuck pointed at her in confirmation. "I mean, if you really think about it, that makes complete sense. Of course she's protective. Especially if she cares about her best friend's kid."

"She definitely does. She's like his aunt, just not by blood."

"Well, there you go. Maybe she's seen the shit a tiny kid can go through when they get attached to an adult and…I don't know, a relationship doesn't work out and that person leaves, you know? That's hard for everyone. She probably knows that and wants to protect them both from it."

Chuck turned to face forward, thinking. God, it did make sense.

It was an extra layer to add to how difficult it must be for Sarah to date people as a single mom. She wasn't just looking out for her own heart, she was looking out for Max's too. Because she was a really good mom. That much he was sure of, even if he'd only seen her interact with her son twice, once in person and once over the phone. She loved her son in a way that made his heart ache. Maybe it was a little bit envy, but mostly it was a sense of loss. There was still a hole in his chest where his own mother was supposed to have been.

Sarah was everything to her son that Chuck had longed for from his own mother.

Feeling way out of his depth now as he walked next to his sister, who seemed lost in her own thoughts, Chuck kicked a bit at a clump of seaweed that had washed up and sighed. "What do I do with this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I get why. The protectiveness and all that. But what…what do I do about it?"

Ellie shrugged. "I don't know." He did a double take. "What?! I don't have all the answers to the universe's questions, Chuck. I'm not that old lady who lives in the tree in Pocahontas. I've never dated anyone with a kid. Ugh, I shudder to think how Devon would've been as a parent when I met him at twenty-three. He was such an idiot. A hot idiot, but still such an idiot."

"Can I quote you on that later?"

"Sure. He'll probably agree with you." He chuckled. "Look," she reached out to grab his arm at the elbow, tugging on him affectionately, "You're the best guy on the planet, Charles Irving Bartowski."

"If you tell me to just be myself, I'll throw you into the Pacific Ocean."

She threw her head back and laughed. "I'm not going to tell you that. I am going to tell you that if you really like this girl—"

"I really, really do. Like, so much. She's…" He didn't have the words so he just threw his hands up instead.

Ellie smirked, a light in her green eyes. "Well…then…keep seeing her, keep being the sweet, thoughtful person that you are, let her know you like her by…being what she needs right now. I mean, don't completely change yourself, but you know what I mean. Be there when she needs somebody to be there. Be…available. Be flexible."

"I've been super flexible already."

"Ew, Chuck."

"Wh—Ugh, Ellie! Ew, you! I didn't mean—Okay, you need to stop watching that stupid raunchy man comedy crap Awesome puts on at night after his shifts and, like, guffaws at."

"It's the leftover of the idiocy from when he was twenty-three still clinging to him."

He cracked up. "I was talking about my schedule, being open to working around her insanely busy schedule. God, you're worse than Morgan."

She reached up and grabbed him by the neck, clenching her jaw dangerously as he laughed, trying to push her grip off of him. "Don't ever say something like that to me! I took care of you!"

Giggling, he broke her grip and trotted away from her.

They both sobered up and fell into step again.

"You know what I was just thinking about, though? Speaking of that little gnome," she finally said after a minute or two of peaceful strolling.

"What?"

"Remember that guy Freddy who Bolonia dated when you and Morgan were, like, ten or eleven?"

"Oh, yeeaaaah. He was awesome! He used to take us to amusement parks and to the arcade. And when the kids were assholes to Morgan when he couldn't hit a baseball during P.E., Freddy worked with him until he became a beast at it. Best fuck you to pre-teen bullies ever." He stuck his hands in his pockets again.

"Right, but remember how broken up Morgan was that night he rode his bike to our house because Freddy got into a fight with Bolonia? The guy never came back. Remember? Morgan was more heartbroken about Freddy than his mom was, I swear." Ellie shook her head, then swooped a hand down to scoop up a shell, cleaning it in the surf, before pulling it up to inspect it.

"Shit, yeah. I remember that. It was like…his dad had left. Again. Ugh, that was bad."

His sister gave him a pointed look and Chuck took the meaning. "Yeah. No wonder Carina asked me what my intentions are. No wonder I feel like Sarah…hesitates a little sometimes."

"She hesitates?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, kinda. In certain moments."

"Like she's afraid of opening herself up?" He nodded. "Can't blame her."

"I don't." Chuck shook his head. "It's just crazy being at these beginning stages of dating someone, really really really liking them, and having this extra element of…seriousness there because…well, so much is connected to it. It isn't just two people meeting, getting to know each other, et cetera. Because this little two year old guy is…all up in the situation too."

"Does it bother you?"

Chuck saw how hard Ellie was working not to show him how she wanted him to answer. But he knew her well enough to know how she wanted him to answer, how she hoped he'd answer. And it was a good thing that the truth was something she most likely also wanted to hear.

"It doesn't bother me. I met him for a couple of minutes when I picked her up for our first date and he's the cutest kid ever. It's just that it's…new. And not what I…expected…at this juncture of my life. Crap, it really does just…automatically make this relationship feel…big, doesn't it?" He ruffled his hair in frustration. "We've gone on two dates! Jesus!"

"It's something you have to just keep in mind." He eyed her dubiously. "Chuck, come on. I want you to find someone you really, really like, someone who likes you just as much, someone who deserves you. Whether she's a single parent or not, that doesn't matter to me. But it has to be something you go into with both eyes wide open, that's all. It's not…gonna be like dating some random girl you meet at the arcade."

"God, the way you just said that made me feel fifteen years old."

"Sometimes you feel fifteen years old to me too."

She laughed loudly and ran away as he grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it in her direction.


A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks!

-SC