A/N: First of all, Happy New Year to all of you! Here in Greece, it is a custom to exchange gifts on New Year's instead of Xmas Eve, so consider this a belated New Year's present from me to all of you. It's a bit longer, too and I have a feeling you'll like the developments in it.

Without further ado and with my best wishes for 2015 as well as my sincerest thanks for your awesome support…

Morgan plopped down in one of the overstuffed guest chairs in front of Chuck's desk and regarded his friend with a calculating eye. Finally, he broke the comfortable silence. "Well?"

Chuck looked up from his computer. "Well what, Morgan?"

"Have you asked her out yet? And you know I'm talking about Sarah. She's totally into you, by the way. That little stunt your event director pulled, hiring her as a substitute for the actress who couldn't make it? She must have really needed the extra cash and she was grateful for the opportunity."

"I know. I was there, remember? She almost didn't agree to work for a fee when she found out I was behind this. She felt, and possibly still feels like she owes me. Do you understand why I am not making a move yet?"

"Aha! So, you're totally into her, too!"

"Buddy, I haven't denied being attracted to her. In this case, however, I think it's best to take things slow. She needs time to adjust and I don't want to be crowding her."

"She's adjusted just fine, pal. OK, so you want to go slow. The Doctor of Love has just the prescription for you. May I?" Morgan pointed to a notepad on the desk.

"Knock yourself out, Doc," said Chuck with a smirk and continued his work. "Just out of curiosity, what are you prescribing?"

"The perfect way to test the waters and prepare for when the right time comes to ask a lady out on a date," replied Morgan. "It'll give you both a chance to get to know each other better before taking the plunge." He finished writing, tore the top sheet off and handed it to his friend with an exaggerated theatrical move. "I accept payment in junk food, Chinese and games, just so you know."

"Let me see what you are suggesting, first." Chuck read through the short text. If the changes in his facial expression were anything to go by, he was definitely interested in what Morgan was suggesting. "Not bad," he said finally. "But keeping tabs on her to learn her schedule? That's borderline stalkerish."

"Stalking is such an ugly word," said Morgan sagely, "besides it implies ill intent, which in your case is anything but. Doing your homework would be a more apt description. And since you are usually busy, I can arrange a little something with Jeff and Lester, in their case for a fee."

"Absolutely not!" Chuck objected. "We are definitely not getting those two involved. Jeff is OK when he's sober, which surprisingly is happening more often lately, but Lester is incorrigible."

Morgan gave Chuck an evil smile. "Relax, I was just kidding."

"Very funny," groused Chuck.

"I'll handle the prep work myself. I'll be keeping you in the loop and when the opportune moment arrives, you'll just show up at the mall, go about your usual business and then casually ask her to have coffee with you. This way you'll test the waters and she'll also get a chance to know you better. In the end, she'll find it easier to say yes when you ask her out on a proper date."

-o-

Sarah wasn't feeling too hopeful as she entered an office building. This was the second PI on Alexis' list she was seeing that day. The first one had declined to take the case, citing his workload as a reason. At least he'd been totally frank in telling her that her case had all the hallmarks of a long job. She quickly crossed the lobby and took an elevator to the sixth floor. Finding the office she wanted was easy. The sign "COLE BARKER INVESTIGATIONS" was quite hard to miss.

"Hi, welcome to Barker Investigations," said a tall, strikingly beautiful blonde in a professional suit who'd just finished replacing a file box on a shelf. With such a figure she should be a model, Sarah thought. But then again, many said the same about her. "How may we help you?"

Sarah decided to get on with it. "Detective White of the LAPD was kind enough to recommend Mr. Barker," she said. This grabbed the other blonde's interest. "I should have called ahead and made an appointment, but I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by."

"Please, take a seat. Mr. Barker will be in shortly. I'm Alex Forrest, his partner."

"Thank you. My name is Sarah Walker… or at least that's the name I go by."

"Is it a stage name, nom de plume, or…"

"No, it was randomly chosen. Perhaps I should explain and in the process tell you why I need your and Mr. Barker's services."

"Well, I'm intrigued. Please do tell, Ms. Walker."

As Sarah was about to start telling her story, the door opened and a ruggedly handsome man with dark hair, brown eyes and a few days' old stubble walked in. "Alex, we can call Mr. Collins and… Oh, hello there." He was speaking with a decidedly foreign accent, Scottish to be precise.

"Collins can go ahead with the deal?" Alex asked.

Barker nodded.

"I'll call him. Meanwhile, meet Ms. Sarah Walker. She didn't have an appointment, but Alexis White recommended us to her."

"How very nice of her," said Barker. "How do you do, Ms. Walker?"

"I'm hoping you could help me."

"Let's take this to my office, shall we? Alex will be joining us as soon as she's done calling a client." He looked at his partner. Her expression told him that Sarah's case sounded interesting, piquing his curiosity as well. They went inside and Barker motioned for Sarah to take a seat.

She did and also took a look around the sparsely but tastefully decorated office. What caught her attention was a sand-colored beret with a winged dagger patch. "You were in the military, Mr. Barker?"

"Special Air Service Regiment," he replied. "I retired a few years ago, moved here and started this business. Speaking of which, what can I do for you?"

"Basically, you can help me find out who I am. I'll explain everything as soon as Ms. Forrest gets here."

"I'm right here," said Alex, entering the office, having finished with the call to their client. She had a notepad with her and sat down next to Sarah. "Go ahead, Ms. Walker."

Sarah told them about having been found unconscious on a beach in Palos Verdes, waking up in the hospital with amnesia, how she, Ellie and Alexis had figured out her first name and middle initial, the list of possible last names and the inability of the police to help, especially without a missing persons report. "And that's just about it," she concluded the narrative. "At least I was able to start living a normal life courtesy of an understanding social worker and a judge."

"It must be hard on you, Ms. Walker," commented Cole.

"You have no idea. At least the doctors in the hospital were able to tell me a few things about my medical past. For example, I'd broken an arm in a bicycle accident when I was around ten or twelve years old. I have no allergies and I must have been exercising regularly, because I am in shape and there were bone markers to support the theory." She handed a sheaf of documents from her bag over to Cole. "My attending neurologist also had me take a few cognitive tests. The results made her believe that in all likelihood I have a college degree."

Cole and Alex exchanged looks when Sarah finished speaking. They nodded to each other. "We'll take your case, Ms. Walker," he said finally. Sarah was visibly relieved. "We'll first contact Detective White to see if she has touched base with any other departments in the State about your case. If not, we will."

"Thank you," said Sarah. "What are you going to need to get the ball rolling?"

Cole and Alex proceeded to take Sarah's picture, tell her about their fee and she wrote them a check for the deposit. They even went to another office, where a document authorizing the PI agency to request information from competent authorities on Sarah's behalf was notarized. She left to go to the Wienerlicious for her shift with a spring in her step. Fortunately, Barker Investigations didn't charge too much, but it was still going to make a dent in her finances. She was expecting it to, anyway. Her plans to acquire a car would have to be put on hold, but she didn't mind about it. Getting answers came first in her book.

-o-

"No, no, no, no, this can't be happening! Crap, it is happening," swore Chuck as soon as the popup error message appeared on his computer screen. He quickly saved his work, shut down the computer, jumped up and ran straight to the cramped storage closet between his inner sanctum and the small bathroom. A look at the inventory sheet tacked on the back of the door confirmed his worst fears, but he still took the time to rifle through his stock of spare parts. Of course, the item he needed right now wasn't there. In addition, it was well past five, so all stores within walking distance would be closed. He was left with but one alternative. Grabbing his car keys, he made sure to lock up the office and instead of waiting for the elevator ran down the stairs to the building's parking lot.

"Yo, bro, why are you in such a hurry?" Morgan queried when he saw his best friend rush into the Buy More.

"Computer problem," he replied laconically.

"Seriously? You finally came up against something you can't fix? If you can't nobody here can, Chuck. You know that. The best you can do is ask your dad to take a look at the problem."

"Morgan!" Chuck almost yelled to stop the bearded man's tirade. "I can fix it. I just need spares, specifically a power module for the mainframe."

Even though he was a salesman and not a Herder, Morgan knew a lot of things about Chuck's mainframe computer. "The power module gave out? What happened to the fancy voltage stabilizer you have exclusively for the mainframe?"

"The voltage stabilizer is working just fine. I checked. There's something else wrong with the module, which I intend to find out once I've pulled it out and replaced it with a new one. And of course the autopsy on the module will have to wait until I'm done rendering the terrain for a new level of a game…"

"Hang tight, buddy. I know what you need." He ran to the racks of big ticket computer parts and easily found the required module. "New delivery," he smiled, brandishing the box. "Listen to this: It will fit every system compatible with the High Performance series, offering even greater reliability, maintenance free, with longer mean time between failures."

"I'll take it," Chuck interrupted Morgan's sales pitch and snatched the box, running with it to checkout. He paid and ran to get his car, almost running down an unfortunate passerby in the process. "Sorry," he called and then stopped in his tracks when he saw who his almost victim was. "Sarah?"

"Hey Chuck," she said lamely, still rattled by the narrowly avoided collision.

He was in a hurry, but he still took in every detail of her. She was wearing casual clothes instead of her Wienerlicious uniform, meaning she had clocked out for the day. "Again, I'm sorry for almost running you over. I wasn't really seeing where I was going. Can I give you a lift anywhere? My car is right here."

"I was going to my place, but as much as I'd appreciate a lift, are you sure it won't be a bother? You seem to be in a hurry."

"As a matter of fact I am, but family and friends always come first. If you don't believe me, ask Morgan."

She smiled. "Let's compromise. I'm in no hurry, so I can walk from your office to my place."

He smiled back and held the door open for her. She got in and buckled up, while he made his way to the driver's side, got in and started the car. "How have you been these last few days?" He started the conversation as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Thanks to you and Marco (she'd never learned his last name, everyone called the director by his first name) I'm doing even better. In fact, I actually hired a PI today."

"You did? That's great! Do you think it's going to work out for you?"

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know. It's still a better option than releasing my photo and recent history to the media with a request for information. Detective White was hesitant to suggest it, recommending we keep it as the absolutely last option."

"Can't say I disagree with her logic. The word is full of weirdoes."

"Yeah… Well, Mr. Barker and his partner mentioned a database called NamUs. They're sure Detective White has checked it already, but they are going to be checking it periodically to see if anyone has entered a missing person report on me. The downside is that someone has to know about the database to enter a report and add a new case."

"This is the first time I've ever heard about it," he agreed. As he stopped at a red light, he stole a quick look at her. She was relaxed in the passenger seat, looking at the stores lining the street and the flow of traffic. She didn't appear to be anxious at all, so maybe she had already found a rhythm in her new life that she was comfortable with. Just before the light turned green, he saw her fish a notebook and pen from her purse and write something down.

She noticed what must have been a questioning look as she put the notebook and pen away and smiled. "Since I'm still getting to know the city, I make notes of interesting places I find by chance," she said by way of explanation. "It also makes me feel kind of like a tourist, which is not so bad, I suppose."

"You are certainly taking this whole thing easier than one would suppose," he said.

"I don't think there's a point in bitching about it or being miserable. Sometimes it's best to play the hand you're dealt." She smiled again and decided to change the subject. "You didn't tell me, why are you in such a hurry?"

"I had to rush to get a replacement power module for my mainframe computer. The old one was in the verge of giving out while I was working on an important job, a job I have to finish today, if I want to get the bonus the client promised for early delivery of the finished product."

"Well then, we can stick with the original plan. I can walk from your office to the Maison 23."

"Or you can come up with me, wait a little until I've installed the module and restarted the rendering program and then we can get some coffee," he said as a sudden inspiration hit him. Being alone with Sarah in an (almost) non-work setting was definitely an opportunity to test the waters.

"Beats sitting at home doing nothing after taking care of the laundry," she replied, her smile brightening considerably. "You've got yourself a deal."

-o-

She'd been to Chuck's office once before, so she knew her way around. Seeing him busy with the dizzying array of computer equipment in the designated room, she volunteered to get them both some coffee from the broom closet euphemistically called a break room. She did pause when she saw the stack of coffee cups in the sink waiting to be washed. At least she found a couple that were clean in a cupboard and busied herself with the coffee maker.

Her experience in the food service industry served her well as she walked into the inner office balancing a tray with two mugs of freshly brewed coffee on one hand. And then she paused at the door. Chuck was looking at the massive high definition screen intently, his brow furrowed in concentration and his lips pursed as he reviewed his handiwork. All the previous times she'd seen him, he'd been cheerful and humorous. She'd never seen how he was at work and it was almost like looking at a different Chuck. Then his face broke into a smile of success and she couldn't help but smile as well. She could clearly see why he was so successful in his business. Finally, she rapped her knuckles on the door frame.

"Hey, you're right on time," he said, giving her a megawatt smile. "I'm done. All I have to do is call the client and email the file over."

"I can see that. Coffee's ready, by the way."

"That was fast. Just leave it over there and I'll join you in a minute." He pointed to the low coffee table in front of the couch, picked up the phone, typing furiously on the computer even as he dialed the number, spoke to the client and confirmed they'd got the file and it hadn't been corrupted during transmission. When he was done, he got up and joined her at the couch.

"Did I get your coffee right?" Sarah asked when he took the first sip.

"Oh yeah, that you did. To be honest, when I first suggested that we get a coffee, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"What did you have in mind, Mr. Bartowski?" Sarah asked flirtatiously – or so it seemed to him. Maybe she did want to flirt with him, just like he wanted to flirt with her.

"I was thinking about taking you to the family run coffee shop across the street. They have an amazing selection of blends and the pastries… Oh man, the pastries are to die for."

"Now I'm positively intrigued. Let's take a raincheck for that today, OK?"

Score one point for the Bartowski Charm. Sarah wanted to go out with him. Time to test the limits a little. "Okay," he agreed. His confidence for the next part was bolstered by both Ellie and Morgan's urging to at least give it a try. "We can do something else instead. There's a new Tex-Mex restaurant nearby I've been wanting to try, but until now couldn't find the time. What do you say, Sarah? Would you like to join me for dinner?"

She hesitated for a moment, and he feared he'd asked her out too fast. "Right now? Chuck, as much as I'd love to accept, after a shift at the Wienerlicious I do smell like sausage. Normally, after work I go to my place and shower to get rid of it."

Good, she's not turning me down for coming on too strong, he thought. "What do you suggest, then?"

"Just give me an hour to go clean up and change. Pick me up at my place in about an hour?"

"Sure," he replied. Looking down, he noticed how wrinkled his shirt was. "I should probably go home and change too. Come on. I'll drive you to your hotel first."

-o-

"You're home early," said Ellie, intercepting him in the courtyard. She'd just finished her shift, so she was still in the blue scrubs and sneakers she preferred to wear at work.

"What can I say? I finished work early and now I want to go change. I don't have much time before I have to pick up Sarah for dinner."

The squeal Ellie let out hurt his eardrums. "You finally managed to ask her out? At least you listened to me this time, little brother! Wait, what are you going to wear?"

He smiled. "I think I can dress myself," he said snidely. Fortunately, he'd taken the time and done a load of laundry and ironing the previous evening.

She let it go, as she was already plotting on getting Sarah to support her in her efforts to make her brother go back to school.

In his apartment, he quickly showered, shaved and picked a green striped shirt to go with dark jeans. Just before leaving, he paused in front of the mirror in the living room and patted his curly hair into some semblance of order. "Keys, check; wallet, check; phone, check," he mumbled and was out the door in a flash. Ellie was nowhere to be seen. Maybe Devon was keeping her inside to prevent her from fussing over his appearance. Not one to waste a good opportunity to escape unnoticed, Chuck practically ran to his car.

In her room, Sarah was feeling refreshed after her shower. Throwing the bathrobe on a chair, she shimmied into her comfortable and sexy black underwear and opened her closet door to decide on what to wear for her dinner out with Chuck. She could describe it as a date, she supposed, which was fine by her. She liked Chuck a lot. Finally, she selected a white blouse with black wavy patterns printed on it, black pants, a lightweight black jacket in case it got cold and her favorite pair of boots. She made it a point to go shopping once a week, looking for bargains as she built up her wardrobe.

She'd just finished doing her makeup and she was running a brush through her hair when she heard a knock on the door. She checked through the peephole and opened the door, plastering a huge smile on her face. "You're right on time, Chuck."

For a moment he was speechless. How did this woman manage to look more beautiful every time he saw her? "Um, you said an hour. Anyway, since you said you feel like a tourist sometimes, I got you this." He handed her a gift-wrapped package.

"Thanks. You didn't have to, though."

"But I wanted to. Go on, open it. I think you'll find it useful."

She did and gasped in delighted surprise. The sturdy box contained a set of drinking glasses painted with various Los Angeles landmarks. "Wow, thank you Chuck. I'll go put them in the kitchen." She was back in seconds.

He offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

She took it and squeezed it lightly. "Let's go," she said. She locked up while still holding on to him and allowed him to lead her to his car.