Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or any other name/branded item listed in the story below.
"You can't be serious."
"As a heart attack."
"No!"
"What?! Come on! He needs this."
"Absolutely not Morgan," Ellie fumed. "I'm not going to let you drag my brother to a strip club!"
Morgan sighed. "Come on, Ellie. Our boy could really use a pick-me-up, don'tcha think?" He turned to Devon, who was seated on the couch next to his wife. "O Captain, my Captain. You know where I'm coming from here?"
"Whoa bro," Devon said, holding his hands out in front of him. "I'm all for cheering up the Chuckster, but you can't expect me to side against my lady here."
"Smart man," Ellie replied, patting her husband's knee. "If you and those idiots from the Buy More want to waste your money, have at it. But Chuck isn't going!"
"Ellieeeee," Morgan whined. "He's cooped up in this house all day. He's blind, not dead. Let him live a little."
"And I suppose letting a naked woman with daddy issues and a drug habit grind on his lap is your idea of letting him 'live a little'?" Eyebrow cocked, Eleanor Bartowski hit the little bearded man with her frostiest of stares.
Morgan let out another groan. "You don't know that! They could be fine, respectable women just lookin' to pay their way through college."
Ellie couldn't hold back her snort.
"Sure, Morgan. If you want to believe that, I can always forward you this e-mail I got from a Nigerian prince. He's in a real bind," she said with mock solemnity. "He's got these millions he just has to get rid of and wouldn't you know it? He picked me to give it all to!"
Devon boomed out a laugh. "Nice one babe," he said, leaning in to plant a kiss on the side of her head.
Morgan shook his head, face scrunched as if he'd just bitten into a lemon. "Low blow, Mrs. Woodcomb," he admonished.
Ellie's eyebrows shot up and down in her own imitation of her brother's more (in)famous Eyebrow Dance, full of delight at her own wit.
Shoulders sagging in defeat, Morgan admitted his defeat. "Fiiiiine," he moaned, eyes pinned to the floor. "Just want to do something good for a buddy, but no..." he muttered. When he finally looked back up, vulnerability shone in his eyes. The good humor that had bounced around the room only moments before was suddenly gone without a trace.
"I just don't know what to do sometimes, y'know?" He glanced at both doctors, whose expressions had quickly sobered. "I know this is a stupid idea, and immature, but maybe that's what he needs. I know I do. Just some good, dumb fun with my best friend." He kicked at the carpet in frustration. "It just...it sucks. It sucks really bad. We've had hard times, sure. Your guys' parents leaving, the Stanford mess, Sarah... Yes, things are better now than they were six months ago. I know that. But a broken heart is one thing. This?" Pointing to his face, he drew a circle in the air around it. "This is for life. And I'm...I'm really having a hard time dusting myself off and getting back on the pony after this one."
"Oh sweetie..." Ellie stood up from the couch and embraced the smaller man.
Everyone knew of the historic (and totally one-sided) animosity that existed between Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb and Morgan Grimes, but at this moment it was nonexistent. In a lifetime of being let down by those he loved, only Ellie had Morgan beat in tenure when it came to sticking by Chuck. For all of the things about Morgan that Ellie found obnoxious, she couldn't deny he was loyal to her brother.
The bearded man's body began to shake with sobs and he clung tighter to his best friend's sister, two souls sharing no commonality except for shared dedication to another.
The stillness of the apartment broke when a door opened and feet could be heard shuffling down the hall. Ellie and Morgan broke apart and Devon stood to join them.
"Chuck, my man," he called out. "Que pasa, Mufasa?"
"Hey Captain," Chuck grinned, stepping out into the open area of the apartment while keeping a hand anchored to the wall. He wore a faded t-shirt, baggy sweatpants, sunglasses, and his hair was an absolute mess. "As if it could have been anyone else with a laugh like that. I woke up thinking it was an earthquake!" Tilting his head slightly, he probed, "I thought I heard people talking?"
Hastily wiping his eyes, as if it made a difference, Morgan was instantly buoyed by the presence of his best friend. "Hey-hey buddy," he said, clearing his throat. "I came by to see you but you were taking a nap so I've been chatting with the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Woodcomb here."
Well-versed in the art of putting on a brave face in front of her brother, Ellie teased, "Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty."
"Oh if only me age, 10 through 25 could see this now, my sister and best friend willingly talking to each other," Chuck grinned.
"Stranger things have happened," Ellie replied, glancing at Morgan and Devon with a mischievous look in her eyes.
"So I didn't check the time when I came out here and I have no idea how long I was out. Is it time for dinner yet?"
"Oh, is that how it is?" Ellie said as she walked over to her brother. "You deign us with your presence only when you're ready to eat?" She stood next to Chuck and slid an arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.
He didn't flinch, for which Ellie was still eternally grateful. In the beginning, after the incident, Chuck had behaved like a frightened animal, recoiling at the slightest touch. It wasn't long before everyone at the hospital, staff and visitor alike, took to announcing their presence when they entered his room. The doctors and nurses would inform Chuck beforehand any time physical contact was required, and everyone else had taken to asking.
As with all things, time made it easier going. While Chuck still appreciated when anyone who entered the room with him announced their presence (or when he entered theirs), he was becoming more receptive to random physical contact. This was especially true of those from his 'inner circle' - a term Morgan coined to describe himself, Devon, and Ellie. She'd never admit it to his face, but Ellie sometimes found herself using the term despite her attempts otherwise, a fact she knew would please Morgan endlessly.
"I swear," Ellie teased, "that's all you ever say to me anymore." She poked her brother in the tummy with her free hand, causing him to wiggle in her embrace. "I don't know where you put it all."
"I'm a growing boy," Chuck said proudly. He stretched his long arm around Ellie's shoulder and flicked her ear. "Boop."
"Goofball," Ellie said fondly. She extracted herself from around Chuck's waist and planted her hands on her hips. "Well since you were so kind as to grace us with your presence," she drawled, "Why don't you tell me what you'd like, Mr. VIP?"
"VIC," Morgan interjected.
"V-I-what?" Devon asked.
"VIC. Very. Important. Chuck."
"Well put, little buddy," Chuck beamed.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You want me to cook, should we order something, or you feeling dangerous and want to go out?" There was always a risk that proposing a visit outside would scare Chuck and he'd shrink back into himself, so Ellie was careful not to play that card too often. Things had been good lately, so she had hope...
"Go outside, eh?" Chuck stood up to his full and impressive height. "Well it's a good thing that danger's my middle name," he said, pronouncing the last four words in an abysmal British accent.
Morgan groaned loudly. "Oh dude, I thought we agreed that Austin Powers was in the same burlap sack as Jar Jar Binks, Highlander 2, Aqua's Barbie Girl, and several large rocks at the bottom of one of the Great Lakes."
"Erie, wasn't it? Or maybe Huron. I forget."
Captain Awesome shared a look with his wife, attempting to silently convey the message of, "If we don't stop them now, we never will." Much to his relief, Ellie nodded knowingly at him.
"Okay Tweedle Dum," she said, setting a hand on Chuck's shoulder. "Go get dressed and we'll go to In-N-Out Burger. If you make it snappy, I'll even let Tweedle Dumber come with us."
"Oooh," he mused. "Double double, here we come." With a practiced step, Chuck navigated himself quickly back into his room. Before Devon could finish suggesting Ellie give her brother a hand, Chuck shot back out of his room and to the spot he'd previously occupied, adequately dressed and thoroughly out of breath. He was in the same faded t-shirt, but had replaced the sweats with jeans, put on a pair of his trademark Converse All-Stars, swapped out one set of sunglasses for what he called his 'man about town shades' (a pair of beaten up Aviators given to him by John Casey), and his collapsible cane looped around his right wrist.
"Ready!" he announced like a proud child.
Devon was first out the door, path-finding for Chuck who was right behind him, cane clacking across the concrete. Before he could follow, Morgan found his arm being held in Ellie's 'smooth yet surprisingly strong,' Morgan quickly thought, grip.
His attention grabbed, she said quietly to him, "OK. He can go."
Morgan looked back with a puzzled expression, to which Ellie responded with a complicated set of facial gestures, including but not limited to eye rolls, subtle sideways head nods, and muttered you know's and that thing's.
The proverbial light bulb went off in Morgan's head. "Ohhh... He can gooooo..." He rubbed his beard thoughtfully and said, "I got ya."
He froze abruptly. "Wait a second. Why the change of heart? What happened to all that talk about drug habits and grinding and body glitter?"
"Morgan, I never said anything about any body glitter..."
"Don't avoid the question, Doctor Bartowski."
Ellie sighed in exasperation. "I wasn't being entirely fair earlier, to you or your hypothetical...'dancers.' I mean, I'm the poster child for daddy issues. Who am I to judge? And the feminist in me was annoyed I threw those girls under the bus just to make a joke. Sure, some of them are basket cases, but I'm sure there's plenty who are just—and I'm rambling."
She stepped out of the apartment and Morgan followed, pulling the door shut behind him. Digging through her purse for the keys, she glanced up at her brother's best friend. "If you're going to insist on dragging Chuck into this harebrained idea you have, just make sure to take care of him, okay?"
Morgan grinned, vibrating with excitement. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, Ellie! I promise, I'll take care of our boy. He's gonna have a blast, it'll be just like the old days! Oh man, I gotta go tell him." The bearded man shot off like a rocket leaving a bemused Ellie in his wake.
"Ah ha!" she whispered victoriously, finally locating her quarry at the bottom of the purse. As she slid the apartment key into the deadbolt and turned her wrist, a distant voice beyond the courtyard yelled, "She said WHAT!"
Author's Note: I'd like to start again by thanking Zerectica for helping me via fixes and recommendations. This story is that much better thanks to you.
And secondly, I'd like to thank everyone who read the initial chapter, and extra thanks to everyone who left a review. You lot, you're good people.
So I actually wrote more. And this is what this story is - snapshots of moments of the world I'm playing in. I'll get around to explaining some of the big mysteries in some of them, or some will be just character-driven, like this. I hope you enjoy reading it - I sure enjoyed writing it.