A/N: Huge thanks to Zettel who helped me get this chapter and the next one straight. This fic has been a fight but I really enjoy it. You know that old phrase darkest before the dawn….it gets dark folks, but it's me, it's Charah…Get ready….I give you Pros and Cons Ch 11, In Vino Veritas, Perhaps
Disclaimer: Don't own Chuck, and alcohol will make you say things you never would otherwise.
"The email contains four different dates and locations," Bryce began. After their session in the kitchen, the team got together with Beckman to begin to plan the operation. Sarah gave Chuck a wink, and he smiled. He wasn't sure where this thing with them was going, but they were FINALLY going to get the chance to figure it out. "The first is in Milan, it's next week."
"And what are we going to be doing there?" Chuck asked. "We'll stick out like a sore thumb."
"Not when we three ladies unveil our new line of clothing we won't be," Zondra said.
"Three?" Chuck asked.
"Sarah is the third," Zondra said. "Since she's new, we'll be the ones being questioned by reporters and you two are the perfect couple to go out and look for whatever it is we're trying to find."
"Sofia Stepanova has suspected ties to the Ring," Beckman said. "You two go as a couple and scout things out, you may find something, you may find nothing. If you do, and can retrieve the artifact you will return it to the NSA."
"No," Chuck said.
"What?" Casey said spinning.
"No," Chuck said, confidently. "If we do this, no matter how far we get into this mission, or if it brings down this Ring, Jack Burton, or whatever alias he's convicted under is freed from prison. That is my price to agreeing to meet Jill Roberts."
"Chuck," Sarah began.
"No, Sarah, WE'VE been though too much," he began, taking her hands. "To do this without some kind of guarantee…." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Sarah, I don't like doing it at all, but Casey would probably shoot me if I don't go through with it."
"In the leg," Casey grumbled. "I mean it wouldn't be fatal."
"Thank you, Casey, I know what that means," Chuck replied sincerely.
"Mr. Bartowski, can you sell this cover of you two being a couple?" Beckman asked. "It would require you to share a room and show affection toward each other." Chuck looked at Sarah.
"I think I could be forced to do it," Sarah said winking. Casey rolled his eyes.
"Forced? Would it be so bad?" Chuck asked, grinning.
"I could suffer through it," Sarah replied, with a coy grin on her face.
"Me too," Chuck replied.
"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE CAN WE STOP WITH THE LADYFEELINGS!" Casey yelled. Everyone was taken aback. "We get it, you two are crazy about each other, we have a mission, you can dip your chocolate into her peanut butter later!"
"Did someone forget to give Casey his meds?" Carina asked. Beckman was trying to hold back a laugh.
"One last thing, it would probably be best if Miss Roberts thought you were a couple as well," Beckman said. Sarah smiled.
"That would probably upset her and keep her off her toes," Sarah replied. Beckman nodded. "I like the way you think." With that, Beckman signed off.
-ooooo-
Sarah lifted up the pizza box lid, and then let it drop back down. She was full. She sighed contently and leaned back into Chuck. He grinned and held her close. They were watching a Marvel movie she had missed while in jail. It was fine, but she didn't have the heart to tell him she could care less about it and only wanted his arms around her. It was ending, and Chuck was looking worried. He had told her she could watch any movie she wanted, so she went into his digital account and searched. She came upon the Thin Man series of movies and started the first one.
"I didn't know you knew these," Chuck said, grinning. She bounced a shoulder, with a grin of her own.
"I like the classics, what can I say," she said. "Plus I just love the attitude of them, the playfulness, the silliness, how they are in things together, as a couple." She gave him a look at that, and he grinned. They were in it together. They watched in silence for a few minutes, and she shifted, thinking about tomorrow and being bothered by it. "You know she's going to say something about us tomorrow." Chuck didn't say anything and began to gnaw on his bottom lip. He glanced quickly at her and then back to the TV. "What?"
"I think it will really piss her off if she thinks we are together," Chuck said.
"Aren't we?" Sarah asked. Chuck turned to her. "Do you want to be?"
"I do, but the whole cover thing, it makes things complicated." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Hear me out, please?" She nodded for him to go on. "You're working for me, and if things go bad, will you still be comfortable living here, and," Sarah leaned in and kissed him soundly. She pulled away, studying his face.
"So we go at a pace we're comfortable with," she said. "But we're. Together." She said, gently poking him with each word for emphasis. Chuck grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, together," Chuck said. He quickly put a fist over his mouth, trying to hide a yawn.
"It's okay, Bartowski," she said, leaning against him. "I know you're not used to pulling all nighters since I went away. We've barely had 8 hours sleep the last three days."
"I've pulled plenty," Chuck retorted. "I just usually slept more than three or four hours afterward." She scooted away from him, and patted her lap. He grinned. "Really?" She just smiled. Chuck stretched out on the couch, his head in her lap. She played with his hair and soon she heard the sounds of his breathing, knowing he was asleep. She smiled and continued to play with his hair, realizing she had been happier the last few days more than she had been in her entire life.
-ooooo-
"Clandestine Fashions, can it be more on the nose?" Bryce asked. Carina shrugged.
"We're two former government agents, it's a joke," Carina said, grinning. "What do you think?" Bryce slipped his arm around her as she snuggled against him.
"I like," he admitted. "I had an idea."
"No," she said laughing. "Casey is not going as Zondra's boyfriend."
"How did you know I was going to ask that?" Bryce asked. She moved close to him and grinned.
"It was the only person left," Carina answered. "Now that you've got Chuck and Sarah hooked up, you're on to your next project."
"Oh, I'm not sure that one's done," Bryce said as he leaned in and kissed her. Carina melted in to him. He pulled away slightly. "I really don't want to talk about them anymore."
"I really don't want to talk," Carina answered, and they didn't.
-ooooo-
Chuck awoke and looked around. It took him a second but he realized his head was in Sarah's lap and she was asleep. He glanced at the clock and saw it 3:00 AM. He sat up, and looked at her. Her head had fallen over to the side and she looked peaceful, but he was sure she would have neck pain in the morning if she didn't already. He scooted over next to her.
"Sarah," he whispered.
"Yah," she mumbled.
"Sarah, you need to go to bed," he said softly, his breath hitting her ear. He watched her body shiver. "Sarah you need to go to bed."
"Take me to bed, Chuck," she replied, breathily. Chuck's eyes about popped out of his head. "Please, Chuck."
"I'm going to take you to your bed for sleep," he said. He helped her stand, led her to her room, and tried to get her in bed.
"Can't sleep in the clothes," she mumbled. "Get them off." He wasn't sure what to do and in a minute she began to do it herself. Chuck turned to give her privacy. He got hit in the back of the head with a bra, the straps coming around his neck.
"Oh, boy," he squeaked out.
"Put me in bed, Chuck," she whined. Chuck slowly turned saw she was wearing her tee shirt still. He arms were out to hold him, eyes shut, asleep on her feet. He gently got her into bed and tucked her in, and backed out of the room, scared to wake her. He got to his room, changed for bed, and slipped under the covers. It was thirty seconds later he felt the covers lift, and felt her scoot in beside him. She started to lay down, stopped, and slugged him in the arm.
"OW! What was that for?"
"We're together, Chuck," she said, grumpily, snuggling against him. "You said." She was frowning as she snuggled, but Chuck couldn't help but grin. "I'm mad at you."
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"Don't do it again," she replied, and he heard her soft breathing seconds later.
"Sarah, what the hell are you doing to me?" he asked. He drifted off to sleep seconds later.
-ooooo-
Chuck sat in the meeting room. Carina and Bryce were already there. Sarah had pulled Carina to the side and whispered something to her. The two had taken off, and Carina had returned. Before she left, Sarah told him to trust her, and go with anything she said. The four had met in Chuck's office before the meeting, Bryce was just sure that Jill was going to play everything as close to the vest as possible, and anything they could do to get her off her game would be beneficial to the company and the operation. Chuck was concerned about everyone going to Milan, but Bryce stressed the whole team had to be close, especially if they were dealing as something as big as the Ring appeared to be.
Chuck checked his watch again, Jill was ten minutes late. He had said Jill would be at least fifteen minutes late, and Bryce though twenty. Jill wanted them on their heels. She wanted the artifact, or someone in the organization did and Chuck was determined to make it as hard on them as humanly possible. The doors opened and Jill and her uncle Bernie walked in. Chuck noticed there was no lawyer. A quick glance and eye contact with Bryce told him that he had noticed the exact same thing. The three members of Bartowski Solutions stood and shook hands with Bernie and Jill. Jill lingered by Chuck.
"Chuck," Jill said, smiling. "It's so good to see you. I was afraid after the other night I had ruined your evening."
"Oh, no," Chuck replied. Crania was standing nearby.
"Oh, those two didn't get to sleep until after the sun was up," Carina said. Jill's eyes widened. Chuck started to say something but saw Bryce's head make the slightest shake of no. He had to say something. He couldn't do that to Sarah. She deserved….his thoughts trailed off as Sarah entered the conference room with the biggest smile on her face. Her hair was down, slightly curled and had a bounce to it as she walked. She was wearing blue jeans, black boots, and a Empire's Most Wanted Star Wars Tee shirt. He was stunned. She walked right up to him, grabbed his tie, and pulled him in for a kiss that made him forget where he was. She pulled away just slightly while his brain attempted to reboot.
"I am so sorry for being late," Sarah said, the softest, most loving smile he had ever seen. "Why didn't you wake me before you left." He saw it in her eyes, go with it. He swallowed and looked around nervously.
"Well, ahem, you looked so peaceful laying there, and you hadn't slept much all night," he said, shrugging. The grin on her face turned into a smirk.
"Either you start waking me up, or I'll have to set my alarm, this is my job," she replied. "Sorry about having to borrow the tee shirt. I just got here and Carina was making some alterations to my outfit, so I haven't had a chance to change." Chuck gave it a look, and Sarah thought she might explode the way he was looking at her.
"You look much better in it than I do anyway," Chuck replied. Neither had noticed Jill storm over to the other side of the table. She was sitting in her chair, pouting.
"We do have a business to run, if you two don't mind," Jill spat. Sarah winked at Chuck and took a seat beside his. Chuck sat down and slowly straightened his tie. He sat there with a grin of the cat that had eaten the canary. Jill stared daggers at the two, and Sarah staring right at Jill reached over and took Chuck's hand into hers. "I will give you 5% of the reward money if you can find the artifact." Sarah scoffed.
"You must think they're idiots," she retorted. "Fifteen percent plus expenses." Jill stared daggers at Sarah.
"Three percent," Jill said, crossing her arms. Sarah turned to Chuck.
"There's an Indian restaurant I've heard good things about, do you think we could have dinner there tonight?" Sarah asked him.
"Feel like some Chicken Tikka Masala?" he asked.
"What are you two doing?" Jill spat out, furious. Sarah turned back to her.
"Since you aren't making real offers I thought I'd see if my boyfriend wanted to try a new restaurant I heard about," Sarah replied. Jill stared at her. She looked over at Bernie who nodded.
"Fine, send the paperwork via currier," Jill said, as she flung her chair backwards and left.
"Good doing business with you," Bernie said. Bryce and Carina held in their laughter until they left.
"That was amazing you two," Bryce said. "That was some of the best acting I've ever seen."
"Who said it was acting?" Sarah said, bouncing her shoulder and leaving. "I'm going to go change." Chuck waved to her as she left, a huge smile on his face. He turned to the other two who had knowing grins on their faces.
"We're together," he said as if to explain everything.
"It's about damn time," Bryce said.
-ooooo-
Chuck sat back in his chair in his office. He had finished the newest upgrades to the security system they had been working on. Anna had caught a hole in the software, and Chuck was furious with himself. The past few weeks had been hard on him, hell the past few years had been hard on him, and now he knew there was no good reason, it had been in his head. He and Ellie had talked that afternoon, and she finally got him to see what Jill had done to him. Her making him last in everything and because he was so scared to be alone he took it. He though no one else would have him, but he found out he was wrong. He had been an idiot, and it was all because he was scared he would be alone.
Which led him to the current mess he had on his hands with their newest product. The closer then Sam, now Sarah, was to getting out of prison, the more he couldn't concentrate on work. He slept less thinking about her and could there ever be anything between them, not that he could let it. She was Bryce's girl, but he kept insisting that she wasn't. Then he thought he was out of her league, and she wasn't interested in him like that. Add in a few jobs to help out authorities with the kidnapping rings they were busting….sleep had been scarce. Once she got to his house, the first few nights he slept like a baby. Craziness had affected his sleep for a few nights, but since Sarah had made him sleep with her, he was beginning to feel more rested. He was in the best shape he had been in for a while and now they were flying out tomorrow afternoon, and it was all because he listened, instead of what his head was telling him.
The office was effectively closed until they returned, with Skip handling anything that came in. Anything important enough would be forwarded to Chuck and Bryce. The CAT Squad had decided to hit the club tonight to celebrate and even though it was a Monday, he knew they were having a great time. He looked at the clock. It was past 2 am. He should probably go, Sarah would be home soon and wondering where he was. He was just finishing up when he heard giggling in the exterior office. Chuck opened the door to find Sarah about to open his door while the other four were in her office, all of them clearly had been drinking.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Chuck asked. Sarah looked at him.
"Why are you here and not in bed waiting for me?" She asked. Chuck wasn't sure how to respond, but amusement covered his face. She furrowed an eyebrow. "Wait, that's not entirely right."
"Yeah, you forgot why isn't he naked waiting for you in bed," Carina said. Sarah giggled.
"Who is driving you?" Chuck asked. The door opened and Chuck saw Casey, looking irritated.
"I thought I told you four to stay in the SUV?" Casey said. He looked over and saw Chuck. "You get her home, I'll take care of them." He began to round up the other four.
"Sarah," Ellie said. "Be gentle with him, it's been awhile for him." Chuck put his hand in face.
"What if he doesn't like it that way?" Sarah asked with a wicked grin. Ellie high-fived her.
"Christ, Bartowski," Casey grumbled. "I deserve a raise for that."
"I'm her brother, so how do you think I feel?" Casey managed to get everyone back in the SUV and take off. "Let's get you home." Sarah was trying to kiss him, and he was trying to be gentlemanly, and get her home, that and he was afraid she hurt herself with her current coordination levels.
"What's the rush, you're not going to try anything anyway," Sarah said, disappointed.
"What?" Chuck asked. Sarah turned to him.
"You won't do anything, because you're Chuck, and that's why you don't want to, because I'm not good like you, I'm not good enough for you, and all I want is for you to love me," she said, and walked out of the building with her shoulders slumped. Chuck stood there, speechless.
-ooooo-
She didn't remember much. She remembered getting roused out of bed, her bed, without Chuck in it. She remembered getting on the plane, and Chuck helping her to her seat. She remembered getting in a car to go to the hotel, and being put to bed in the hotel, but she woke up, alone. She remembered Chuck had given her pain killers a couple of times, and she remembered there was a mixture of a look on his face of concern, probably for how bad her head hurt, and something else. She hoped he wasn't looking that way because of her. She looked over at the night stand and saw a note that had been propped. It said he was downstairs at the bar. She got up, fixed her hair, grabbed a piece of fruit and ate it as she rode down the elevator. She saw Chuck at a table, and she sat down across from him. He was drunk, very, very drunk. She knew him, he didn't do this unless something was really bothering him.
"Alright, Chuck, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Do you remember that night we met?" Chuck asked, a slur to his words. "Do you remember how you and Bryce joked about Jill giving me just enough sex to keep me in line." She nodded her head and Chuck continued. "We never had sex again after that night." Tears were falling down his face. "I couldn't anymore, because I was in love, Sarah. I was in love and it wasn't with Jill. I was emotionally cheating on Jill, and I felt guilty, but part of me didn't care. I thought that was the worst I could ever feel. Then I saw you and Bryce together and I thought that was as bad as I could ever feel. Then you were arrested, and I really thought that was as bad as I could ever feel." Sarah took his hands in hers.
"Then what's wrong, why are you like this, we're together." Chuck shook his head.
"I say all that because I found out I could feel worse," Chuck said. "Last night you told me you don't think I love you. I've loved you sometime after you stole our fries and sometime before you told me you were more of a physical threat than I was. You were sad last night because you don't think I love you. How can I not love you? How do I tell you that I've loved you for so long, and all I've done is hurt you? I hurt you both you and Bryce ended up comforting each other." Sarah had nearly lost it emotionally up until the last sentence he uttered, and then, then she lost it. She slapped her hand on the table, making him jump.
"Enough of this bullshit!" she snapped. Chuck's eyes got wide. "Chuck Bartowski, Bryce and I did what we did, but if I EVER hear you imply one more time it's your fault, we are going to have serious problems, Mister."
"But," he began.
"NO. BUTS." She said softly but intensely. The look in her eyes told him she wasn't playing. "You are the best man I know. I know what your parents did and how it affected you. Ellie explained it all, but you do not get to blame Bryce and my mistake on yourself. You aren't that foolish. You aren't that dense. You are scared to blame us because you're scared I'll run away. Chuck, I'm here." She took his hand and looked into his eyes. "Chuck, I'm not leaving you, you'll have to run me off. I'm done playing this game, we're together. Now admit it."
"Admit what?" Chuck asked. She stared at him.
"Admit you're mad and hurt at what we did," she said. "Quit carrying it around because all you do is let it fester, all you do is ignore it, no one, and I mean no one, Chuck Bartowski, is that good a guy." Tears fell down his face.
"I loved you, but I had no right to you," Chuck said. Sarah nodded.
"Chuck, I made a huge mistake and I can't apologize enough," she said, sitting back and running her hand through her hair. "Sometimes I wonder, did we do it just to get even, because we weren't stupid. No, you and I weren't together. I told you about Jill." She shook her head and looked away. "I told you about Jill and all I wanted to do was comfort you. To show you there was someone better out there, and you pushed me away, and some of my insecurities bubbled up."
"And Bryce is just a horn dog?" Chuck asked, a wavy grin-frown on his face. Sarah shook her head.
"Chuck, do you know how many women went out with him, wishing they were with you?" she asked. He looked up at her. "Chuck, we did something monumentally stupid, and if you hated both of us forever we'd both understand, but you can't say it was your fault."
"I was so envious of both of you," he said softly. She nodded, tears in her eyes. "I wanted to be yours so badly. I wanted you to want me, and I wasn't worthy."
"You are, Chuck, you are," she said. He closed his eyes and bent his head down. "You okay?"
"I think I might be sick," he admitted. She got him up, took care of his tab and got him back to the room. He wasn't sick, but as she got him into bed she realized she didn't want this moment to pass. "I love you," he said softly. She smiled at him, wondering if he had been thinking the same thing she had been.
"How about you say it to me in the morning when you're sober, Champ," she said. He nodded. "Hey, I love you." He grinned, shut his eyes, and was out like a light.
"We're in love," she said softly. She laid her face on his chest and made a decision. In the morning they were done with this dance. She smiled at what that might mean.
A/N: Don't you worry kids, they'll be okay. Promise. I mean really okay *REALLY* Next time. Scout's Honor. The next chapter's name is It's About Time!…Charahkids, premedicate….Hoped you liked it, reviews and PMs are always welcomed…Take Care
DC
