DISCLAIMER: CHUCK ISN'T MINE AS WE ALL KNOW, BUT THE OC'S ARE LOL. DOES THE AUDIENCE WANT MORE? 62 VIEWS AND ONLY 1 REVIEW? COME ON GUYS & GALS, IF YOU WANT THIS TO CONTINUE THEN PLEASE LEAVE SOME LOVE OR HATE IN THE REVIEWS TO MAKE IT WORTH WHILE.


CHUCK VS AN EXTREMELY NEW BEGINNING

EPISODE 2: SANTA MONICA SURPRISE

SANTA MONICA PIER / SANTA MONICA, CA

Never in his wildest dreams did Chuck think this was gonna happen to him. He thought he was doing the honorable thing; he didn't want to be viewed, much less compared to other boys his age of someone willingly jump at the chance of spending the night with a girl he just met. He didn't want to take advantage of her.

Now he was surrounded by the girl he spent the day with, the five other "man tanks" (as he described them to himself earlier), and Artman, who appeared to be the leader of the group being the oldest as Hailey pointed out. While he was being lead "forcefully", which Chuck reasoned there wasn't really much he could do when someone literally twice his size was bringing him towards the others gathered around. Chuck was scanning for any escape route, but knew that resistance would be futile at this point. He groaned to himself after realizing the Star Trek pun that just popped inside his brain.

Artman addressed the group, "Gentlemen, and as tradition states that term is used loosely in describing our group. "The others chuckled in response as he grinned at Chuck with a wink while Hailey came up joining them looping her arm through his right arm giving him a small squeeze to his bicep for support. Artman turned his attention back to the group continued his speech, "As you know or need a recap, since some of you have swiss cheese memory." Chuckles were heard at the zinger fired that even made Hailey and Chuck giggle, he was interesting to see how this was gonna play out while Artman continued.

"This is Chuck Bartowski, the young man our beloved Hailey stampeded earlier today."

Gambino piled on, "Stampeded, speared, anchored, planted, claimed. Oh scratch that, has she really filed her claim on him yet?"

Hailey fumed, "I'm standing right here moron! If you think I haven't claimed him yet, then watch closely."

Hailey turned Chuck's face towards her and planted a long passionate kiss to his lips that made his brain stop functioning, there were no words he could use to describe it being just the right amount of passion and tenderness. She kept pouring the passion into the kiss while pulling his head down more towards her to make their foreheads touch, his arms instinctively wrapped around her slender waist pulling her against him like they were molding their two bodies together as one. The wolf whistles and cat calls by the guys finally penetrated the spell as her eyes slowly opened to look up into his chocolate brown orbs, she knew that Chuck was seeing her eyes sparkling brightly in the moon light. If she was truly honest with herself, it was the best kiss she ever had. If he kissed this well, what else could he do?

The moment was broken as Artman called out, "Now that Hailey has officially laid her claim on Chuck, let's get back to the matter at hand. Both her and Chuck told me about the bind he was in. His sister has an evening class tonight at UCLA with another one in the morning, Chuck had taken the bus to come out here. We all know how public transportation works, along with the heavy traffic. He's looking at minimum 90 minutes to get home from here. She suggested that he stay with her at the resort we're at, this way he doesn't risk getting home late and waking up his most likely exhausted sister. He declined without any hesitation."

Chuck could feel the others looking at him in disbelief, Maverick spoke up with a smirk on his face. "She pulled a Godfather, gave him an offer he can't refuse. Yet, he refused it anyways?" Looking over at Chuck, Maverick whispered, "That takes a major set of balls Kid."

Chuck figured he had nothing left to lose, so he yelled, "Of course I refused! I would rather risk getting mugged or beaten by the local gangs on my way home than be in a position that looks like I'd take advantage of a lady. Especially after what she went through with that jerk of an ex-boyfriend."

Hailey gasped as Maverick walked right up to Chuck grabbing the front of his shirt and menacingly told him, "You know that any of us can break you into more pieces than Humpty Dumpty?"

Chuck gulped, "Yes, I'm completely aware of that. Hailey's a nice girl, and I'm not going to put her in any compromising situation."

Maverick looked at Hailey before turning back to Chuck. He grinned as he told him, "You're okay in my book kid. But like you were told earlier, you're not going back home tonight. Traffic is already murder, whether by car or worse by bus. So, you're staying with us." Chuck was shocked as Maverick playfully ruffled his hair before walking back to the others, laughing the whole way.

The group started walking towards the hotel when Gambino stopped. He noticed Chuck and Hailey still standing where the group left them. Walking back over to them, he couldn't resist more teasing.

"Hailey, I think you better bring your cuddly teddy bear boy toy with you and tuck him in. Otherwise, he might be gone like the wind. Then again you might have to buy a leash and collar so you can always take him for walks and such."

She didn't even acknowledge Gambino; instead her focus was on Chuck. He hadn't moved from his spot after Maverick scared him. She didn't even know herself what was going on. Chuck showed her the kind of man he was when giving his reasons for not wanting to stay, doing so even at the risk of getting broken in half. That spoke volumes to her. Unknown to Chuck, the scare tactic was a test by the group. They wanted to see what his true intentions were towards Hailey. The way he handled it gained him massive respect from them.

When Hailey saw that Chuck was once again zoned out, she placed her hands on his face and gently brought his head down until their foreheads were touching. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close and she could feel the change in his posture as his arms moved to wrap around her, mimicking her actions. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until a cool breeze jolted her.

Chuck had been confused by the entire exchange. His mind and body were still reeling from the whole experience. He didn't even realize that Hailey was in front of him. He had no idea she was holding him until he felt the contact. The breeze not only jolted her, it also brought him back from whatever journey his brain ventured off to. He could see her looking up at him, eyes full of concern.

Without another thought, he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her softly on the lips. She eagerly returned the kiss and poured more into it while her hands were holding the back of his hair. They broke the kiss when they realized that not only were they still in public, but the night air was turning cooler. They began walking up the beach towards the hotel still holding on to one another.

CATAMARAN RESORT / SAN DIEGO, CA

A.J. Casino was enjoying his evening, sitting in his favorite spot on the beach surrounded by a few female friends having some drinks. Life was indeed good at this moment. Like all good things, it must come to an end at some point. He wasn't happy having his quiet time ruined by the ringing of his phone.

When he saw who was calling, his tone took on an added edge as he snapped, "You better have a good reason for calling me at this time of the day. This better not be some BS. I'm a busy man here damn it."

"Oh, relax Moneybags, just wanted to give you a heads up. Hailey met a guy today. They just went upstairs to her room."

His blood boiled hearing that as he screeched, "What do you mean she took a guy upstairs to her room?! You idiots just let her do that? She's under your watch!"

The voice laughed back good naturedly, "Relax, man, you'll give yourself a heart attack. This is basically what happened the bulk of the day."

Casino listened as he was told the whole story. He even laughed when he told about Maverick's performance. He agreed with their assessment and decided to make a visit.

"Keep a close watch on them, I'm coming up in the morning and getting the full disclosure."

After disconnecting the call, he gulped down the rest of his drink. He dialed another number and waited. His tone turned business like now.

"Home Base, this is 'High Roller' reporting in. I need you to run a POI check on a Chuck Bartowski from Burbank, California. He's someone Tigress and some of the team had a run-in with today. The guy sounds like he's harmless, especially after he endured a little test. Find out what you can, plus fax me a copy of our special test for recruits and send it to me by 0600."

Casino ends the call then reclines back sipping on his drink while mentally working on the next few moves ahead for this development. He already figured out what to bring with him on the little trip and the questions he would ask once he arrived, he grinned thinking of what his surprise appearance will cause for Hailey and her potential boyfriend.

LOEWS SANTA MONICA BEACH HOTEL / SANTA MONICA, CA

Chuck felt like he had slept for years instead of just one night. He was refreshed and full of energy, ready to take on the world. Although, at the moment, he was enjoying the nice comfortable bed and being cuddled up to a nice warm body. He immediately froze his thoughts.

"Nice warm body? Please tell me I'm not in Ellie's bed."

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around. Nothing looked familiar, so he wasn't in his bedroom at Casa Bartowski. Looking at himself he noticed he's wearing the same clothes he was yesterday when he headed to the beach to relax. He also noticed an arm and head draped across his chest, holding him. Upon closer inspection, he saw her black hair, and a peaceful expression on her face. Apparently, she really liked using him as a pillow.

"Oh crap, I'm in bed with Hailey! Her uncles are gonna kill me! I'm never gonna see Ellie again!"

Hailey could feel the change in Chuck instantly. His heartbeat and pulse began accelerating. She knew he was over-thinking things, and was working himself up into an anxiety attack. She was too comfortable to move and didn't feel like it.

"Chuck, calm down sweetie. You're working yourself up over nothing, I know what you're thinking, so relax and go back to sleep."

Chuck looked down to see Hailey never moved from her spot, in fact her grip on him tightened. He wasn't sure what to do at this point. Laying his head back down on the pillow, he tried taking some deep breaths when the unexpected happened.

Hailey shifted her position and was now laying fully on top of Chuck, much like when they were on the beach after she tackled him. She gently kissed his lips and laid her head back on his chest, he soon relaxed and felt his arms wrap around her before dozing back off.

Three hours later, A.J. Casino was walking through the lobby of Loews Santa Monica on a mission. He stopped when he found his objective, Hailey and Chuck were eating breakfast. He observed them making small talk and noticed how well they were getting along. He was slowly making his way over when Chuck looked up and saw him. Noticing Chuck's attention was diverted caused Hailey to turn her head to realize who arrived, she jumped up from the chair rushing over to give him a hug.

"Uncle A.J.! So good to see you, what brings you up here?"

Casino laughed, "Why is there an ulterior motive needed to see my niece?"

Hailey countered, "Because you wouldn't be here without someone ringing your phone after 1900 hours last night."

Casino looked over to Chuck, "Since introductions were never made, my name's A.J. Casino, but you can call me either A.J. or Casino."

Chuck was shocked, the girl he'd been spending time and falling in love with was this man's niece?

"Chuck Bartowski, it's an honor to meet you Mr. Casino."

Casino chuckled, "Chuck my boy, please don't be formal with me. Just Casino is fine. It's nice to see that you've got some manners instilled in you. However, I'm here because like my niece had not so bluntly put it, someone rang me up during my relaxing time. Knowing those clowns, they're probably still sleeping, enjoying the time off."

Hailey asked, "Uncle A.J., you didn't have to make a special trip up here. I was planning on coming down to San Diego in a couple hours, but we got sort of held up."

Casino raised an eyebrow with a smirk asked, "You got held up? Now tell me, how did you two meet?"

Hailey looked shyly at Chuck before launching into the story, a big smile on her face, "We started out playing a game of beach football. I saw Chuck off in the distance looking lost in thought. I figured he probably needed a friend to talk to."

Casino nodded, "Okay, I'm with you so far."

Hailey continued, "I bet Artman twenty bucks that he couldn't throw the ball towards Chuck and make it look like an accident."

Chuck was a little confused. Hailey made a bet and planned the whole thing?

Casino shook his head, "Please tell me that you didn't shake on that. That's a sucker bet, my dear."

Hailey confirmed, "I didn't shake or anything, just said I bet you twenty that you can't make it look like an accident. You know something I don't?"

Chuck added, "I don't understand. Why would you say that's a sucker bet? I was pretty far away from them. I was even shocked that I was able to catch it because of my clumsy nature. You could say I hardly have any athletic ability."

Casino replied, "I will get to that in a second, Chuck. Hailey, tell me what transpired next?"

Hailey finished, "Next play he threw a perfect strike aimed at Chuck's face. Hollywood yelled a warning, leaving enough time for Chuck to catch the ball, surprising him when he did. Seconds later, I ended up tackling Chuck to the ground."

Casino admired her out of the box thinking, "If that's your way of picking up guys, I have to say it shows originality. Now to answer your questions about why I said it's a sucker bet. You see some of your other uncles played football since childhood. Some were good enough to make it to college, but you had a select group that could have been stars. Those guys you played with yesterday are part of that select group."

Hailey's curiosity got the better of her, "Why didn't they?"

Casino shrugged and spoke like the answer was obvious, "Your father recruited them before the scouts could get their hands on them in high school. Artman was your age in his tenth-grade year. He comes from a patriotic family like you, his grandfather and older brother were both Army. Yet he was more into Navy, he loved the F-14 Tomcat because of the movie 'The Final Countdown' that featured the Fighting '84 Jolly Rogers. That got your Dad interested more and, by end of the day, he recruited him."

Chuck asked, "How far do you think those guys would've made it?"

Casino stated, "Franchise players, for whatever team they played for in the NFL. That's how talented they were. But they chose to serve their country instead of playing football for a decade and being set for life."

Hailey asked, "Do you think they ever wished they could go back and choose differently?"

Casino laughed, "Not really. Now they attend training camps to help certain teams have enough camp bodies. They only go to push players at their positions, it makes those guys work much harder. And they help the ones who are really struggling. Overall, it's making all of them better players. Of course, that handles their PT for the summer. The extra paycheck for a summer workout's a great bonus to put towards vacation days."

Chuck whistled, "That's some story there."

Casino agreed, "Yes, it is. Now back to you two. What happened next?"

Hailey continued, "Well, for a while I just stayed in my new comfortable position laying on top of him. After all, he did save me from landing on the sand. We seemed to get lost in each other's eyes."

Casino's sarcasm was evident, "How noble of him to sacrifice himself to be your cushion. Getting lost in each other's eyes you say? Now you've either been listening to Debbie Gibson, or you've been reading one of those trashy romance novels."

Hailey pointed out, "It didn't last long since the guys came over. They checked to see if we were okay, since I wasn't getting up from my position. Unfortunately, a crowd started gathering around us, including the lifeguards. The guys helped us to our feet. When Gambino made a comment to go have a chat with Chuck, I pulled him along to the pier and did just that."

"So, what did you talk about?"

"Well, I found out he's a California boy, lived in the Los Angeles area most of his life. Works at the Burbank Buy More during his summers since high school. He's attending Stanford in the fall, planning on getting his degree in Electrical Engineering. He shares an apartment with his sister, who's attending UCLA Medical School next semester."

Casino's curiosity peaked when Hailey mentioned Chuck's plans. Scratching his chin, he looked at Chuck before speaking again.

"So you're very knowledgeable with computers and electronics?"

Chuck nervously answered, "Yes sir."

Casino knew he had to talk to this young man alone, yet he also knew how much his niece liked him already. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

"Hailey, based on your story on how you two met, it sounds like Cupid's been playing with his arrows again. Tell you what we're gonna do. Since we already have your room here, why don't you just stay here for the week until you both have to leave for school. I know that commuting can be an issue, so I will leave you a rental car in my name. In fact, why don't you use the office and set it up? That way everything's to your liking."

Hailey lost all composure, and shot to her feet, giving her uncle a hug.

"Uncle A.J., you're the best!"

Casino grinned at Chuck while hugging Hailey, looking at her slightly exasperated and scanning the lobby quickly, "Don't say that too loud, okay? I have a rep to protect when it comes to other people. Now go on, get out of here."

She hugged him again goodbye as Casino was grinning ear to ear, once she was gone from sight he turned his focus back on to Chuck and back into business mode.

"Now that we're alone Chuck... As you can see, I care about my niece a lot. She hasn't dated since that unfortunate situation last year."

Chuck confirmed his knowledge of the situation, very aware of his throat drying fast.

"Yes sir, she told me about what happened with that Brian guy. I still don't understand how someone would treat her like that willingly, especially knowing the consequences those actions would create."

Casino rubbed his chin in thought. He wasn't aware Chuck was told of this. Very interesting.

"Ah, so you do know about that tidbit? Well, that's good to know, so I wouldn't have to repeat it for you."

Chuck felt the need to explain more, "Well, she told me that last night. I also found out personally how protective her uncles can be."

Casino definitely had his ears open, "Explain for me please, Chuck."

Chuck sighed, "Last night the hour was starting to get late and the only transportation I had available was the transit line. The next one was due in about twenty minutes, but you know how crazy traffic is in L.A. It would have been another hour or two before I could make it home. My sister had class late and another one early this morning. I would've woken her up when I got back. She's cranky, especially without her coffee, when woken up."

Casino nodded, "Okay Chuck, I'm with you so far. What happened next?"

Chuck swallowed, "Because of the bind I was in, Hailey walked up to the others and talked to them about the situation. Artman came back with her and they gave me a suggestion. They said I could come back to the hotel with them and spend the night with Hailey. I refused, because I'm not wired like that, and the first thing that came to my mind was that I didn't want to put Hailey in any type of compromising situation. Most of all, I remembered what that Brian jerk put her through. So, I flat out said no."

Casino chuckled, "So they made you an offer and you definitely refused. Very much like a Bizarro World of Godfather. What happened next?"

Chuck continued, "Well Artman told me that I wasn't going to see my sister again that night or today for that matter."

Casino started laughing, this was starting to get good.

"Sorry, Chuck, please continue."

"Anyway, I was escorted back to their circle, and Hailey looked sad and I didn't know what was gonna happen. Maverick asked if Artman gave me the offer, and was told I refused. I figured there was nothing else to lose, so I yelled at him and repeated what I said. He stormed up to me and grabbed the front of my shirt, told me that he could break me in half easily. I was expecting him to do that, then he smiled and messed up my hair, saying I was okay."

Casino couldn't help it, he was laughing so hard that other guests started looking at them wondering what's going on. After regaining his composure, Casino chuckled. "Chuck my boy, I think you've been welcomed into the group via scare tactic. They gave you a little test with that stunt, you must've impressed them after Maverick pulled that performance."

Chuck's voice sounded low, "Yeah. I was numb for a while after that. Hailey was really concerned. Matter of fact, I don't even recall making it up here from the beach."

Casino was a bit worried now, "What do you mean?"

Chuck explained, "Last thing I knew, I was standing on the beach after having my life flash before my eyes. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a hotel room sharing the bed with Hailey. Just to clarify, we were still fully-dressed."

Casino observed that Chuck had some kind of shock to his system, maybe a breakdown. He was contemplating contacting Professor O. first chance he can get. He can give this young man the test another time seeing that he still was shaken up from last night. He wouldn't be in his right mind to take a test as important as this.

"Chuck, I've got a test for you to take. No, it's not one of those types like last night. Instead, this is sort of like the ASVAB that you took your Junior year of school. Except this is a much different version. When your mind and head are clear and back to operating at maximum level, give me a call, and you can take it then. I will be around the rest of the week."

Chuck nodded in acceptance and shook hands with Casino. He watched as the businessman got up from his seat and waved him off so he wouldn't have to get up. Casino strode out of the lobby and headed towards the elevator.