A/N1 More story. Some backstory and some movement ahead.

If you follow (Mis)Ed, I am at work on the next chapter, but I expect it to be a few days, maybe a week, before it picks back up in earnest. Still in Barcelona and with limited free time.

Don't own Chuck.

Chutes and Ladders

CHAPTER NINE

Truth or Dare?

Later, Tuesday, March 28

Sarah wiped her face on her towel and prepared to dismount the elliptical. Her workout was over. No Ellie. She was relieved.

Truth be told, though, she was also disappointed. She had not been sure what she would tell Ellie if Ellie asked about Chuck. Sarah had not called Ellie or run into her since the initial date with Chuck. It occurred to Sarah that perhaps Ellie was avoiding her too, trying to give Sarah and Chuck some time, some room. Now that Sarah knew that Ellie had more or less raised Chuck, she thought that Ellie very likely was staying out of it, trying to avoid being an interfering 'mother'.

"Sarah!" Sarah removed her towel from her face and there stood Ellie; evidently, she had just arrived.

"Hey, Ellie! I was thinking about you." Did I admit that? What happened to Daddy's girl? - Bartowskis, that's what.

"That's sweet, Sarah. You've been on my mind too. I was hoping you were...doing okay." Ellie smiled but seemed unsure what she wanted to say or how to say it. Me too.

"I'm good, Ellie."

Sarah could see relief in Ellie's eyes, although Ellie kept her face in her original smile. "That's great. I've been really busy at the hospital for days, extra shifts, and haven't had a chance to run into you. I also haven't had a chance to talk to..."

"To Chuck?" Sarah offered, completing Ellie's thought.

"Yes," Ellie screwed her lips to the side of her face, "but I don't want you to think I only want to talk about him or about how…"

"The date went?" Sarah made a second offering. Ellie nodded.

"It's okay, Ellie. I understand if you are curious. And you really haven't talked to Chuck?"

Ellie shook her head. "No, but then again, I've hardly had time to kiss Devon. Chuck's been asleep or at work every time I've been at home and awake."

Ellie ran out of words for a moment and still seemed unsure.

"Well, I ended up hiring Chuck, Ellie." Sarah could hardly hold Ellie's gaze. She shuffled her feet.

"You hired my brother... as a private investigator?"

"Um...yes."

"On...your blind date?"

Sarah nodded, feeling overcome by Ellie's disbelief. Sarah knew it sounded bad...or something. Odd. Disappointing to Ellie, no doubt. Having dug the hole, Sarah was going to have to climb out of it.

"It's hard to explain. There's been a problem at school, not my problem, but a problem with one of my kids, and I thought Chuck could help me help her maybe. But I shouldn't say too much about it, I guess."

Ellie looked at Sarah for a moment as if she were an alien life form. "So, Chuck met you on a blind date and you hired him?" Ellie was clearly still a couple of steps behind, mired in confusion. Her smile was gone. "So, you didn't like Chuck? I was so sure you two would be perfect for each other, just a gut feeling, you know, but so sure...No wonder I haven't seen Chuck." Ellie said the last more to herself than to Sarah; she realized she had said it out loud, and she blushed. But Sarah could tell that some of her color was from annoyance, ire.

"No, no, Ellie. I liked Chuck fine."

"Fine?" Ellie pronounced the word in a tiny fit of exasperation.

"Wait, Ellie. I am not explaining this well. I wasn't hiring Chuck as opposed to being on a date with him. I hired him on the date. No, wait, that's right, but it sounded wrong. I think Chuck misunderstood. But we've been working together...on the case." Sarah gave up. She was spiraling.

"Working together...On the case…" Ellie was still coming to terms with what Sarah had told her. "So you liked Chuck fine? And you hired him?"

"Yes, but I didn't like him fine. I mean, I did; that's right, but it sounds wrong. I like Chuck, Ellie. I like him." Sarah reached out and gripped Ellie's forearm, squeezing it, hoping the action might right her capsizing explanation.

Surprised, Ellie looked at Sarah's hand on her arm - but at last her gaze cleared. "Oh. Oh. You do?"

"Yes, Ellie, but he doesn't know it or, anyway, I haven't explained it to him."

Ellie narrowed her eyes and smiled a small smile. "I'm not sure explanations are your long suit, Sarah."

Sarah breathed out a long sigh. "I know. I know. And I owe your brother a big one."

"A big one," Ellie repeated, a glint of mischief in her eyes above her smile. "Maybe you just need to squeeze him, Sarah."

Sarah felt herself relax. "Want to go sit, Ellie?" Sarah picked up her gym bag.

"Sure."

They walked out of the gym area and into the lobby. There was an atrium with tables and chairs. No one was seated there at the moment, so Sarah headed for one of the tables. She sat down, got a bottle of water from her gym bag. As she drank, Ellie, seated too, leaned toward her.

"Did you say you've been working on the case with Chuck?"

"Yes, just last night we were on a stakeout together."

"You mean like sitting in the car, watching someone or something?"

"Yes, exactly."

Ellie narrowed her eyes. "So you have been inside the Crown Vic, his barely roadworthy landlocked version of the Queen Elizabeth 2?"

Sarah bit her lip. I like his car. Even more after last night. "Yes, I have had the pleasure."

Ellie's eyes narrowed further. "The pleasure? Really? Because when he finally gives that beast up, there're plans to turn it into a rolling hotel in Dubai."

Sarah chuckled. "Oh, right, the fate of the QE2."

"The pleasure, Sarah?" Ellie seemed lost in reflection, then she shut her eyes tight. "Tell me you aren't talking about the back seat?"

Sarah continued to chuckle. "No, not talking about the back seat." I'm talking about the front seat, but that's just between me and your brother.

"I'm still not sure I understand, Sarah. You like Chuck, I take it you really like him. But he's working for you and you are helping. You aren't dating."

"No, Ellie, that's not quite right. Chuck believes we aren't dating. I know we are." Sarah bit her lip. "Well, assuming a woman can know that of a man who doesn't know that of her. I am planning on telling him as soon as I find the right moment."

Ellie shook her head. Boggled. "So Chuck's blind date has kept going, except he knows who he's dating, just not that he is dating her. Um...her...I mean you. Is that right?"

Sarah nodded. "I guess. I hadn't thought about it that way. But for him, it is a funny kind of blind dating..."

"Why are you doing this to him, Sarah?" Ellie's tone, thankfully, was simply curious, no longer angry. "I get that you have reasons, but his last girlfriend - Jill Roberts, Satan claim her - really messed with him at the end. Dumped him by text. With an emoji thrown in for good effect. I'd hate to have set him up for more heartbreak."

"We haven't talked about Jill," Sarah admitted. "But I promise, I am not going to break his heart, Ellie. There's a lot he and I need to talk about. We don't know a lot about each other's pasts, but he did tell me a little about your parents - and about what you did for him, raising him. You did good, Ellie. He's...well, you did...good. He's...sweet."

"Sweet, Sarah?"

Sarah took a moment and sipped her water. She often had this problem. When she needed words, she couldn't find the ones she wanted. Alternatively, if she could, the ones she wanted only made sense if you knew her history - and no one knew her history. 'Sweet' was an important word for Sarah, an adjective with power, but she knew that to Ellie it must have sounded like she was damning Chuck with saccharine praise.

Sarah took another sip. She changed topics, although she saw that Ellie noticed. "Why is Chuck a PI, Ellie?"

The puzzled look Ellie had given Sarah for changing the topic without answering dissipated. Its place was filled with a look of frustration. Ellie turned her gaze out the atrium windows. "That's a long story. Short version: Chuck went to Stanford on a scholarship. He's like our dad was - gifted with machines, at programming. He was a straight 'A' student. Everything was great. But during his senior year, he was charged with masterminding a frat cheating scheme.

"Of course, he was innocent. You know him well enough to know that," when Sarah nodded, Ellie went on, "and he was eventually exonerated, although no one ever identified the real culprit. I'm sure Chuck knows who it was, but he never really talked about the whole awful business with me. The ordeal messed with him. Demoralized him. His grades slipped. He just went through the motions until he finished. I believe the ordeal reactivated old wounds, the loss of our parents in particular."

Ellie sat still for a moment, continuing to gaze out the window. "He came home and seemed like he'd given up on all his big plans. He specialized in AI work at Stanford. He was so good his name appeared (as an undergraduate) among the names on three or four important papers in the field. He was going to start a company. He had ideas about how to use AI to help kids who faced developmental challenges. But he just threw all that away, or, I don't know, forgot about it.

"One day, he met a guy at the Buy More near here. They were both there, shopping. The guy was a PI. He and Chuck hit it off. The guy ended up hiring Chuck. Just for amusement, Chuck had minored in political science at Stanford. It turned out that his degree, plus the hours he worked for his detective buddy, made him eligible for a license. While he was working, he got to know John Casey," Ellie paused and turned to Sarah, "do you know John?"

Sarah shook her head, listening carefully. "No, I don't."

"Well, he's a police detective. He is the last person on earth who you would ever pair with Chuck as a friend, but they became friends, fast friends, close friends, I think, although neither would admit it. Casey helped him out, helped him get his license and start an independent agency. Chuck's made enough to eat and pay rent, but he has a hard time making anyone pay him. I don't think he's ever seriously thought of it as his life's work. He's just been trying to help people…"

"Do you think it has anything to do with what happened at Stanford, the false charges against him?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I do. Something. I'm sure of it. The explanation isn't straightforward though." Ellie halted and gave Sarah a serious look. "You two are a lot alike when it comes to explanations."

Sarah leaned in and changed back to the original topic, softening her voice. "And yes, Chuck is sweet, Ellie." Sarah grabbed Ellie's arm and squeezed it again. "And when I say 'sweet'...I mean sweet." She let the final word dangle like a charm from a bracelet while she increased the pressure on Ellie's arm and wiggled noticeably in her chair, shifting position.

Ellie's eyes got big; her color rose. She burst into laughter. "Oh. Oh! Sweet. I get it now…although maybe I was better off not knowing. Is it that bad, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded vigorously and joined Ellie's laughter.

ooOoo

Chuck got tired of waiting for his computer search to produce a result. He had spent the last couple of hours staring at the bare opposite wall of his office, his head filled with Sarah. That made him restless. He kept shifting positions in his chair. He had a case of wiggles worse than any when he was a boy. The only productive thing he had managed to do was to record a message on a burner phone.

He got up, saluted Sasha's frog and grabbed his coat. He put it on as he went out the door.

Billy Powell was standing outside, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. It was between lunch and dinner hours and the cafe was nearly empty.

"Hey, Chuck, where you heading?" Billy sucked in on his cigarette, its end a pinprick of orange. Billy's question was conversation, not demand. He sucked on the cigarette again, his nicotined fingers holding it deftly.

Chuck stopped and stood beside him. Billy exhaled blue but aimed it carefully away from Chuck.

"Got a case."

"Good case or bad case?"

"Don't know yet? Two cases, actually." Chuck couldn't keep a note of pride out of his voice.

"Paying cases?"

Chuck shifted his feet. "Well, maybe."

"'Maybe' don't pay the piper, Chuck." Inhale orange. Exhale blue. "Are you a real detective, Chuck, or are you just playing at being a detective, because you think you can't be what you want to be?" Orange. Blue. Orange. Blue.

Chuck shifted his feet again. "Don't know, Billy."

"Ever think that maybe you never make anyone pay because you never really took this to be your job?" Billy dropped the butt of the cigarette onto the concrete and stepped on it, turning his foot as he did.

Chuck gave Billy a defensive glance. "It's my job."

"Whatever you say. Hope the cases go well." Billy walked back into the cafe. Chuck peered through the window at Billy's thin form as he walked away. Jesus, everybody's a philosopher.

ooOoo

Chuck moored the Vic down the street from FARMA's headquarters. He got out and went to the back of the car. Opening the trunk, he marveled, as always, at its size. Shaking his head, he unzipped the bag he kept in the back and grabbed a clipboard with some random forms clipped to it, and an old, broken GPS. The GPS would turn on, light up, beep, but it no longer would get a signal from a satellite. Chuck could easily have fixed it, but his phone worked better for getting around. He kept the GPS for a moment like this. He dug around in the bag until he found a cap emblazoned with the official LA Sanitation logo. Chuck had found the hat one day at a resale shop and thought it might come in handy. He pulled the cap down on his head, tucked the clipboard under his arm. He fished his stubby golf pencil out and clipped it to the clipboard. He turned on the GPS.

Chuck stood up straight and entered FARMA's glass and chrome lobby. He made a beeline for the massive reception desk. An attractive young woman in professional attire was seated there. There were two security guards in the lobby, each standing in a corner of it. The young woman glanced up at him and her gaze lingered on him, although Chuck did not pay any attention to it. He was busy thinking ahead.

"Hi, ma'am, I'm Joe. LA Sanitation. Extermination Division. I need to see if it will be okay for one of my men to enter the building and do some checks on Saturday. Do you work on Saturday?" Chuck was careful to make all of that a run-on sentence so that the woman could not interrupt.

When she said no, Chuck covered his relief by walking away, waving the GPS in the air. He did that for a moment or two, walking to and fro across the lobby, then he went back to the desk. He put the GPS down but made sure it beeped before he did. The young woman jumped at the sound. It echoed across the lobby. Chuck was careful to keep the screen facing away from her. All she could see was the reflection of its glow on the matte desktop.

"Yep, yep. Just as we worried. Initial indications aren't decisive, but they aren't good. We've been having trouble with an aggressive breed of the cockroach. When they move in...uh...large numbers, they give off traces of gas that this here gadget," he pointed with the bill of his cap while scribbling nonsense on the clipboard, "can detect. And I got a positive, although it might be a false positive. Of course, there really isn't anything positive about cockroaches."

The woman's face stretched in commingled disbelief and panic.

"Now, now, nothing for you to worry about, ma'am. I'm a professional. I know. They're all just down there, if they are, beneath your feet, under the floor. They don't like light, so they don't have any ambitions to march themselves up here and take over." Chuck made himself guffaw. "No, they'll stay where they are. I will send a man in on Saturday to run more tests and do the extermination if necessary. Can you just log the visit, let whoever works Saturday know my man's coming?"

The young woman was staring at the floor as she nodded her head. She seemed not to know where to put her feet.

"Now, please, don't tell anyone else about this. No need to panic anyone. And you are perfectly safe. There may not be any down there after all. So, my man's name is Charles Carmichael. He will be by Saturday afternoon."

The young woman wrote down the name in the Saturday section of her log book.

Chuck gave her the number of the burner phone in his office. "That's Charlie's number." Chuck turned off the GPS and touched the bill of his cap. "Thanks, ma'am. No need to worry." He turned and left, giving her no chance to respond.

ooOoo

It wasn't a perfect plan, but Chuck thought it'd worked. He had a name on the log book. He ought to be able to roam around in FARMA on Saturday, to try to see what Jill was up to. I can do this job. But Billy's right. It's not my work. Someday…

He was replacing the cap and clipboard in the trunk when his phone rang. Sarah. His heart, already pumping fast because of the deception in FARMA, sped up even more.

"Hey, Sarah."

Hey, Chuck. Are you free tonight?"

"Yes. Yeah. I need to stop by the office...but I will be free after that."

"How about coming to my place for dinner?"

"Well, that sounds nice, but I don't have any information on Sasha's case yet. I might later, but…"

"Chuck."

"Yes, Sarah?"

"We need to talk. So, information or not, will you come over? Say, 7 pm, like last night?"

Chuck's heart was jackhammering in his chest. He thought of Billy's question, "Good case or bad case?" He had it bad for this woman, that was sure. The worst case of his life. The best case of his life. What does she want to talk about?

"Okay, Sarah, see you then."

"Good. Come hungry. Bye." She ended the call.

Chuck shut the Vic's trunk. He got in and drove back to the office, half-exhilarated and half-terrified. He went in. He walked around his desk and looked at the computer screen. Still nothing. He took off his shoulder holster and put his gun in the file cabinet.

He checked the burner phone. No call. Good sign.

He made himself take several deep breaths, then he went back out to the car. He got inside and drove to a nearby store to buy a bottle of wine. When he came out and got back into the car, there was a dark SUV parked in the lot. He had a feeling that he had seen the SUV outside his office. He pulled out slowly, watching carefully in his rearview mirror, but the SUV did not move.

Just my imagination.

A/N2 I know I teased you a bit here. Tune in next time for Chapter 9, "Candy Land". Stuff happens.

Review?

Z