'How'd it go?' Morgan bounced himself up onto the Nerd Herd countertop.

Chuck blinked. 'Hi, Morgan. Pop-Tarts for breakfast? You know you'll only end up shouting at Jeff and crying on Lester by lunchtime, right?'

'Yeah, yeah, I know. I was out of cheerios.' Morgan dismissed Chuck's concerns with a sugar-fuelled smile. 'So? You and Sarah work things out?'

'Oh, last night. Not so much, no.' Chuck leaned back in his chair and casually glanced around the store. Catching sight of a certain greenshirt busy lifting down a box containing a microwave oven, he swallowed and hastily looked away.

'Dude, why wouldn't you move in with her? You guys have been dating for what, nearly two years now!'

'It's... complicated.' Chuck sighed.

'You keep on saying that,' Morgan complained. 'But you never say why it's so complicated. You love her, right? And she's totally into you, not to mention she's incredibly hot. What's complicated about that?'

'I... There's more to relationships than Sarah being hot. Trust me. I mean, you and Anna, that's not just about how hot she is, right?' Chuck pointed out.

'I guess not, although she totally is.' Morgan smiled, looking round. 'See?' He pointed over to the DVD section, where Anna was flicking through the anime section, pointedly ignoring the three pimple-faced teenaged boys who were openly staring at her.

'Sarah's amazing,' Chuck said, leaning forwards again. 'She's an incredible person. I'm just not entirely sure we're quite right for each other. Or if we are, maybe it's not quite the right time.'

'If not Sarah, who else?' Morgan asked, blinking at his friend. 'Not Jill, not Lou... Unless you've got some new honey tucked away you haven't told me about, Sarah's it, man. You haven't, have you?' he added anxiously. 'Because you know you can always talk to me.'

Chuck glanced over at Casey, who was now by the cash registers, then back at Morgan. 'No, no other... honey.' He smiled wrily. 'You're right. Sarah's definitely the one. It's just cold feet, I guess. You know me, I'm not one for change.'

'I get it,' Morgan nodded. 'Your room at Ellie's is your safe space, your refuge. You don't know if sharing an apartment with Sarah will turn out to be your Dark Side Cave instead. But Chuck, the only way to find out for sure is to walk in there. Face your fear, Chuck. Defeat the Dark Side,' he counselled earnestly.

'What are you nerds jabbering about now?' a deep voice said from behind Chuck.

He jumped, turning so sharply that he nearly fell off the seat. 'Woah, hey John.' He flushed. 'Nothing much.'

'Nothing much?' Morgan said incredulously. 'Only Star Wars and the application of its principles and philosophy to everyday life.'

Casey grunted. 'I find force solves a lot of problems.' With a flash of a menacing grin, he slapped Chuck on the shoulder and strode off to intercept another customer.

Morgan stared after him. 'Did he just make a joke? A Star Wars joke?'

Chuck blinked. 'I think so.'

'That was weird. Very weird.' The bearded man shook his head. 'Maybe you should ask him if he had Pop-Tarts for breakfast.'

Chuck stared after the big man. 'Maybe I should. Oh, hey, thanks for the talk, Morgan.'

'No problem, buddy. For you, Doctor Morgan is always in.' He pushed himself off the counter. 'I'd better go look busy. Daddy's got rent to pay.' He strolled off towards Anna, leaving Chuck staring thoughtfully into space.

#

Lunch was frozen yoghurt over at Orange Orange and a chance to review the tapes from the hidden cameras at the antiques showroom. The most exciting part was where the cleaner had bumped a cabinet of glassware with the vacuum cleaner and, while the manager shouted and picked up each figurine to check for damage, managed to pocket a hundred-dollar diamond-and-ruby ring, looking contrite the whole time.

'Nice,' John grunted.

Chuck sighed. 'Not getting any more interesting,' he groaned, putting his feet up on the desk.

'Want me to make it more exciting?' John rumbled, shifting his chair sideways.

Chuck looked sideways at him, startled by how close the agent was. 'What are you- Oh!'

The big man caught him by the tie, pulling him in for a kiss. His lips were warm, firm, pressing insistently at Chuck's. Even as Chuck's mouth opened automatically, allowing John's tongue to slip inside with a dirty, agressive push, part of Chuck's brain was cataloging, analyzing, comparing. Harder, scarier, rougher... Sexier...? Not that weirder... The other part was frozen in shock until with the sound of the door to Orange Orange opening, John was abruptly three feet away, flipping through surveillance feeds, leaving Chuck gaping in surprise.

'Isn't it time you guys went back to the Buy More?' Sarah asked, coming down the stairs.

'Mm,' John wrinkled his nose. 'Another afternoon selling consumer goods to morons. The sooner they all learn to shop over the internet, the better.'

Chuck licked his lips, swallowed, put his feet back on the floor. 'I, uh... Probably.' He kept his eyes on Sarah, not daring to look over at John.

'What time are we heading out?' Sarah asked. 'Seven, from your apartment?'

'The antiques store closes at eight today. Might as well,' the agent agreed. 'Chuck?'

'Yeah, sure.' He smiled as normal a smile as possible. 'And dinner?'

Sarah replied. 'For our cover, we really should spend some time together. I'll pick up some sandwiches after my shift finishes. And we need to discuss details. About living together.'

Chuck's smile turned sickly. 'Yeah... We do...'

'Come on, Romeo,' John said. 'Can't be too late back.'

With a sigh, Chuck followed the agent up out of Castle and back to work. As they crossed the parking lot, he hissed, 'What was that? Sarah almost walked in on us!'

John grinned. 'Made it more exciting, didn't it?'

Chuck found to his chagrin he couldn't disagree.

Back in Castle, Sarah rewound the video feed, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. 'Oh, this isn't good,' she murmured. 'Not good at all.'

#

Sarah reached Casey's apartment a little before seven. The door opened before she could knock. Stepping inside, she closed it behind her.

She stood in front of the doorway, hands clenched into fists. 'We need to talk.'

'Really.' John went back to checking through the weaponry and electronic equipment piled on the table. A monitor at the far end showed a split feed of Chuck's room, where the nerd was currently tying his shoelaces, and the courtyard outside Casey's door.

'I want to know how you're planning on cheering up Chuck.'

'Any means necessary,' John said, not looking up from checking a gun clip.

Sarah's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she spoke again. 'You're telling me you're under orders?'

The agent looked round in surprise. 'You thought the General would order you? After everything?'

'I...'

'It doesn't matter what the General wants for him - he just wants his family safe and the damn Intersect out of his head. Sarah, he's keeping intel from us. We're on the verge of losing him. And right now you're part of the problem.'

'What?' Sarah was aghast.

Eyes narrowing, John kept his voice low, but his words were sharp. 'You think it's fair on Chuck to move in with him? You're tearing him apart as it is. You think he'll be happy sharing an apartment with you? Seeing you every evening, spending all your free time together, then going off to separate bedrooms? That no-touch policy's burning a hole in his guts.'

'And you think it's all right to play with him? Seduce him?' Sarah's voice rose.

John snarled. 'It's more honest than what you've been doing to him, Walker! And if it makes his down-time a little more fun, that won't hurt either. Don't you dare get judgemental here.'

The knock at the door startled both of them into pulling out guns. With a glance at the monitor, John relaxed.

'It's Chuck. You want to let him in?' He busied himself with packing equipment and weapons into a holdall.

Sarah glared at him for a moment longer, then opened the door, forcing a smile.

'Hi, Chuck. Come on in.'

'Hi guys,' Chuck grinned. 'Ready to go hunt out the bad guys?'

'As always,' John said, flashing a quick smile of his own. 'Sarah?'

She hefted a bag. 'Got the sandwiches.'

'And I've got a whole new spy mix.' Chuck held up his iPod.

'That's just great,' John said, heading for the door. As he passed Chuck, the corners of his mouth twitched. 'Let's go.'

#

'I don't think we should move in together.'

Chuck and Sarah sat opposite each other in a nondescript noodle bar, a bowl of ramen in front of each of them.

Sarah pressed a napkin of ice to the bruise on her jaw and continued. 'I'm not sure it would be best for either of us.'

Chuck blinked. 'That wasn't what I thought you were going to say, I've got to admit. I kinda thought you'd want to keep a closer eye on me.' He pressed a napkin of his own to his knuckles. 'Ow. Who'd have thought antiques dealers knew how to fight like that?'

Sarah smiled. 'At least we intercepted the arms shipment and they're all in custody now.'

'Yeah. We made a good team tonight. The three of us, I mean.' Chuck's own smile reappeared.

Sarah's smile slipped a little. 'Yes, I suppose we did. So what were you going to say?'

'I, uh... Pretty much the same thing, actually,' Chuck confessed, sadness creeping into his eyes.

'At least that's settled.' Sarah sat back. 'Chuck, you know if there's anything you ever wanted to talk about, you can always talk to me, don't you?'

Chuck nodded. 'Thanks, Sarah. That means a lot.'

#

'Knock, knock.'

Chuck looked up from his comic. 'Oh hi, John. Coming in?'

'Just thought I'd let you know the General said thanks.' John perched sideways on the windowsill.

'She did?'

'Not in so many words, but she implied it. How's the hand?'

'Doing fine,' Chuck said, dropping his comic on the duvet and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. 'See?' He crossed to the window, holding his hand out for the agent to inspect.

John took it, gently spreading Chuck's fingers and turning his hand to catch the light. 'I guess so,' he said, voice dropping half an octave, and looked straight into Chuck's eyes.

The young man's breath caught. 'John...'

John leaned forwards, catching Chuck's mouth with his own and kissing him softly for a long moment, before breaking the kiss.

Chuck's eyes fluttered open. 'Uh... I'm not moving in with Sarah,' he said faintly, then cleared his throat. 'We, uh, we decided it wouldn't be good. For the best.' He stared at John's lips, unconsciously flicking a tongue over his own and swaying forwards.

John tugged Chuck forward a step and kissed him again, one hand going up to slide along the young man's jaw, cup the back of his neck, the other hand still holding Chuck's, fingers linking together as the kiss deepened.

Chuck's mouth opened on a low moan and John's tongue slid inside. As he pushed against Chuck's tongue, thrusting into Chuck's mouth again and again, the nerd's free hand reached blindly for the agent's shoulder; anything to help steady himself.

At last they broke the kiss, gulping in air, Chuck resting his forehead against John's, his hands on the older man's shoulders and John's arms around the young man's hips.

'Guh...'

'Yeah...'

Chuck squeezed John's shoulders briefly, then stepped back. 'Wow.'

'Sleep well, Chuck.' John's voice was low, rough. He got to his feet. 'And lock your window.' He waited until Chuck had done as he asked before going back to his apartment. For all of Team Bartowski, sleep was a while in coming.