Cooking Conversations
Elizabeth had found a good working rhythm with Sarah. The two women did a great job of taking the client's wishes and finding a way of making them come about. Transitioning that into the kitchen, Elizabeth tried to find how they best worked together in the informal environment.
Since Sarah didn't have the same level of experience in the kitchen, she chose to take a supportive role by helping Elizabeth while answering more of her questions. In the privacy of the Burke home, it was the second time that they had really had a girl's only opportunity to talk some things through.
In exchange for the help, Elizabeth shared various tips from time to time and showed Sarah how to cook some new dishes.
Asking more about Chuck and Sarah's relationship, Elizabeth looked to get to know her better. "How did you meet Chuck?"
Laughing softly, Sarah smiled at Elizabeth's questioning glance. "Neal has always held Chuck in high regard, so when he needed help from someone that he could trust; he sent what he was protecting to him. Since I was Neal's partner, I was to retrieve the item and find out why he had sent it to Chuck... I had no idea what I would discover." She paused as she smiled at the fond memory. "When I first walked into that electronic store, I thought Chuck was just some geeky guy who would make an easy mark, so I created a few minor issues on my phone for him to repair. To my surprise, he was nerdy and charming as he fixed my phone, but it was what he did after that that caught my personal attention. You see, a man hadn't put a tape in his digital camera, so he hadn't taped his daughter's ballerina recital for his wife. In a complete panic, he turned to Chuck for help, and Chuck obliged. Naturally, he took over the wall of televisions for a back drop, lined up the camera, and had a coworker tape the girl's performance while he gave her words of encouragement. He was so sweet and caring… something that I had never seen in anyone before."
Appreciating the cuteness of the scene, Elizabeth could easily see how that would change a person's whole perspective of someone else. Knowing why, she was curious as to the how, so she asked, "How did you start dating?"
Continuing the story, Sarah answered. "When I couldn't retrieve the item through stealth, I put my focus back on getting to know Chuck and I persuaded him to take me out as I was new in the city. Agreeing to show me around, we made plans, and things got started."
Seeing that Elizabeth was going to ask anyway, Sarah continued into the first date description. "That was definitely an unforgettable first date. While we were eating, he was so easy to talk to that I almost blew my cover and talked about Neal… I changed his name just in time but, despite my near slip and his awkwardness, Chuck simply focused on saying what I needed to hear. Then we went to a local music hot spot where things got interesting." Pausing again, she detailed some of the back history for the next part of the story. "The item in question was also under the protection of another agency, particularly a rival of Neal's and mine… and back then we didn't get along, so when he attacked, I fought for Chuck."
When she paused again, Elizabeth continued to stir the dish and prompted her to continue. "And?"
Amused, Sarah simplified the details of the scenes that followed. "As we were dancing, Chuck was oblivious to the knife fight that I was engaged in, even though he was literally right in the middle of it, but he became very aware that something was going on when I drug him out with the other team chasing us. We had a high speed chase backwards down a main street, the adult version of bumper cars, a foot chase, gun play, and the reveal that Chuck's whole life was changing again because of Neal's actions. Despite being on the verge of freaking out, Chuck pulled it together, figured out a bomb threat, led Casey and I to the location, used the latest computer virus to defuse a rather large bomb with only one second to spare, and, to use the colonel's compliment, he didn't even puke on the C4. The next morning, Chuck chose to use what Neal had sent him to help people, so we were all three assigned to work as a team."
Enjoying the insight into the team protecting her, Elizabeth continued to prompt the conversation. "Do you like your team?"
"Yes. In the beginning, it was just an assignment. I got a job acrossed the parking lot and pretended to be Chuck's girlfriend; while Casey moved into the same apartment complex and got a job at the same electronic store. Over the years, we've had a lot of rough patches, but we have taken down a lot of bad guys, became family, and my relationship with Chuck became real."
Elizabeth had been wondering since Chuck said that they would be in touch, so she carried the conversation into their family relationships. "What is his family like?
Caught off guard, it took Sarah a moment to understand whose family she was asking about. "Chucks? They're great. Stephen and Mary have been field agents for years. Stephen has been supposedly killed a few times, but we recently found him alive again so it is nice to see them together for the first time in decades. Then there is Chuck's older sister, Ellie. She is very protective of him, having raised him much of their childhood, and her husband has picked up the big brother role well. They have a daughter, and a few years ago they relocated to a Chicago hospital in need of some great surgeons, so they aren't around as much as they used to be. And I can't forget Chuck's first best friend, Morgan. He has been around since they were in the third grade and loves to be considered the little brother in Chuck's family. Surprisingly, Morgan is engaged to Casey's daughter and that kind of ties the lot of us together as two families connected together by friendship."
"I like the sound of them. They seem like a great family. Peter gets the feeling that Neal had a rough childhood, so it is good to know that he has good friends out there." Elizabeth was grateful to know that Neal was supported by such people.
Sarah smiled with tears in her eyes again. "From what I understand, Neal doesn't have much of anything to his name… any of them. When he supposedly betrayed Chuck, he alienated every friend he had, including Chuck. Then his work, if nothing else, has taken him away from his adopted family. Even our team has been out of touch with him for several years. Combine that with everything that he has done for us, and we owe him."
Able to step away from the food, Elizabeth moved to take Sarah into a hug as she was getting more emotional.
"I married into a family that he has been protecting for over a decade." Taking a deep breath, Sarah dealt with a mix of emotions. "We spent our flight here researching what he has been doing and learned that while he was playing a con with you guys, he was also working to lay the ground work for us to take down three major enemies. In addition, he was spying on us in order to arrange for things to help keep us safe… we learned that from my father in law. Besides, he is technically one of our team, so we owe it to him to watch his back. Right now the best way to do that is to help keep his family safe."
Letting Sarah go, Elizabeth asked. "Have you talked to Neal about all of this?"
Regaining her composure, Sarah stepped back. She was opening up to Elizabeth as she really liked her, but she was still not as comfortable with the Burkes as with the Bartowskis. "Yeah, we have talked to him a couple of times… he doesn't feel that we owe him anything. I know what he means, that he isn't looking for reward or compensation, but we can't help feeling that we owe him something."
Making a ruckus of noise as they started hauling boxes into the house, the guys started stacking the boxes inside the door as a transitional point. Then once they were all inside the house, they began the task of moving them up the stairs to the attic where Neal arranged them as he chose.
When they had completed the task, the guys moved back downstairs to see how lunch was progressing.
"That smells good hon." Peter greeted Elizabeth with a kiss.
Ignoring the couples around him, Neal simply grabbed some of the finger food to try since no one was paying attention to him for a moment.
Feeling his phone vibrate, Neal looked at the text. Throwing a confused glance at Chuck, he waived his phone and asked, "Why is Morgan threatening to sick his father in law to be on me if I ever mess up again, and just how did he come to be connected to Casey? "
Laughing, Chuck answered. "Casey's real name is Alex, he has a daughter named after him, and she is engaged to Morgan."
"Great… so the two allies who hate me most will soon be family… that is so not going to bode well for me in the long run." Neal sighed.
Concerned, that had Peter's full attention. "What?"
"Relax everyone." Chuck tried to reassure them. Then he turned to Neal. "Casey won't admit it, but he actually respects you, and Morgan thinks you're 'awesome.' He just doesn't want to see you hurt me… even in appearance, so he wants to make his point known." Then he shrugged, "Besides, they both know that I won't allow them to do anything."
"Thanks…" then Neal smirked, "So, now you're protecting me from the wrath of your own team if necessary?"
Shrugging too, Chuck smiled. "Of course, you're my friend too."
Exchanging smiles, the two relaxed the group as they changed the conversation towards their afternoon activities.
"So, are we going to watch a game, or are we going to stand around here?" Neal said. Although he wasn't a fan, it was preferable to having them all digging through his personal background.
"What's with the matching shirts?" Elizabeth asked as she noticed them.
Throwing their arms acrossed each other's shoulders, Neal and Chuck smiled as they pointed at each other's chests.
"Aren't they cool?"
"Chuck gave this to me back in school. It's been in my storage unit for years."
"And here you were nervous at the idea of practically moving in… you know, you can store those clothes in the guest room dresser. That closet already has two of your suits in it anyway." Elizabeth offered. Then she added on as a joke. "Just don't think I'm going to be your maid to do your laundry for you."
"Don't worry about it El, I'll probably just leave them up in the attic and out of your way." Neal tried to avoid the feeling of intruding on their space.
"If you do, I will go digging through your boxes until I find them, and then I will organize them into the dresser my own way. Don't make me force you to feel welcome." She threatened while moving to poke him in the chest pointedly. "You are our brother now, as well as our friend, and we want to see you around here more often. So if occasionally washing an extra couple articles of clothing is part of that, then I really don't mind."
Surprised, Neal stared at her with a startled expression.
Patting his brother on the shoulder, Peter helped to encourage Neal. "You might want to get that done before she goes through with her threat. I just might help her to see what else you have in those boxes because you labeled them in code."
"Meaning that I should get on that…" Neal felt a little awkward still.
Switching his direction, Peter grabbed his shoulder. "Come on, I'll help you get that box down."
"And I'll go make sure that there isn't anything in the way." Elizabeth said.
"Do you need any help, El?" Sarah volunteered. She was curios despite herself.
"Well… I'll pick the choice food and find which seat feels the most comfortable while I wait." Chuck joked.
Upstairs, Peter walked through the attic with Neal until they reached the corner with his stuff.
Stopping Neal, he held his hands on his shoulders to make sure that he was listening. "Neal, you are our brother and friend. I know this feels awkward for you, because we are adjusting as well, but we really do want you to feel welcome and come around here. The dresser isn't used, so it is a good place for you to keep some clothes. This is a safe place where you can be yourself, and it doesn't hurt to have some spare clothes here just in case, so that takes care of two things at once."
"I get it, but I also don't want to intrude on your personal space." Neal said.
"No, you don't get it. You are personal Neal. As my brother and friend, you are a part of my personal life, and therefore welcome in my personal space!" Peter tried to get him to believe that. Pulling him into a hug, he held Neal close to reinforce that he was welcome.
Slowly, Neal raised his arms and returned the hug. He was adjusting, but it was still new to have a family, to lower the barriers between his real self and others, and to have others willing to see that person while welcoming him into their personal lives.
Releasing Neal after a few moments, Peter was glad to see that he was adjusting. There was still a long ways to go before Neal would be completely open with him, but Neal was working to let his walls down and accept that his family did want to have him around.
"I actually left the clothes box in the front to make it more accessible if I did need any spare clothes for any reason." Neal explained that he had already taken the spare clothes angle into account.
"Then let's get it downstairs. There wasn't much in the drawers but a few random things stored there until we could find better homes for them, so the others are probably waiting for us." Peter moved to help Neal navigate carrying the box down before he held back to close up the attic.
Moving into the guest room, Neal saw that Sarah and Elizabeth had cleared out the dresser to make room for his meager clothing collection. "There was no reason to clean them all out, I don't even have enough to really fill a single drawer, yet alone three."
"You should bring at least a few more articles of clothing then to make sure that you have what you need for a couple of spare outfits." Elizabeth informed him.
Noting her point, Neal didn't want to talk about that yet, so he moved to open the box and began to pull things out. Placing them neatly in the bottom drawer, he sorted them as he liked.
"You used to run in track?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at his field uniform.
"Yeah, I got a scholarship off of it." Neal generalized his athleticism.
Snorting, Sarah didn't say what she knew about that, despite being tempted. Instead, she chose to let him tell his family in his own time. "Chuck has told me some stories about that, but I'll yet you tell them when you are ready."
Nodding gratefully at her, Neal acknowledged that he was glad she hadn't detailed just how much he had gotten out of track.
Taking Neal from the spotlight, he could tell that he had had enough for one day, Peter rallied the group together for the game. "Let's go get some food before Chuck takes all of the choice snacks. The game will be on in a few minutes."
As the others filed out and headed downstairs, Peter held back to talk to Neal as they walked down the stairs. "What I learned about you today is that you are nerdy enough to label your processions in some kind of code, and to never race you… I'll probably lose by the sounds of it."
Laughing at the added humor, Neal threw a grateful glance at Peter. "Thanks. Opening up is something that I have been trained not to do since a very young age, it isn't easy to drop my barriers."
"You're welcome, and don't worry about it Neal. We aren't really going to push you, but we do want to get to know you as you feel comfortable." Peter said.
"Not going to push me, huh?" Neal teased in reference to the dresser incident.
"We aren't 'really' going to push you Neal, really is the key word, but we will push you some if you make us." Peter clarified. "Part of being a family is supporting each other, and by giving you a place to land as yourself, we are supporting you for who you really are instead of the character that you portray to the world. So for that, we will push you to take advantage of us in a few minor ways that let us do that in your life."
Dropping the topic for the time being, the group found Chuck settled into his chosen seat with his selection of snacks while he played on his phone.
Taking a few moments to get their own foods and places, the rest of the group settled in to watch the game together, even though some spent more time reading or playing on their phones. Still, the group enjoyed the meshed activities and relaxed as a bonding group. Neal had drawn them together initially, but they were becoming an extended family by choice.
Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing/commenting, following, leaving kudos, and choosing to favorite me and my stories :D
Hey everyone, I want to give you a heads up that my grandma was just diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. I intend to keep up my postings once a week as the material is written anyway, but there maybe times when I am either delayed or have to skip a week due to family matters. My household is the only family local to take care of her and she is an integral part of our circle because she is not only family but a friend. Please bear with me as this is going to be hard personally and stressful combined with everything else. Thanks for your understanding.
