'Is Chuck home?' Morgan asked, taking a nacho from the baking tray.

'Argh! Morgan!' Ellie sagged against the kitchen counter. 'What have I told you about coming in through Chuck's window?'

'I think the phrasing used was 'don't', but I could be mistaken,' Morgan said, taking a thoughtful bite. 'Why?'

'Please would you just use the front door?' Ellie pleaded.

'You know, if I had a key, I wouldn't have to come in through the window.' He snagged another handful of nachos.

'That's not going to happen, so don't even think it,' Ellie warned. 'And no, Chuck's not here. Why? Was he meant to be?'

'Well, no. At least he didn't say he'd be here. He didn't say he'd be out, either, though, so since it's his day off I kind of assumed he'd want to play Call of Duty, maybe a little Medal of Honour.' Morgan frowned. 'Tell me, Ellie, when did you last see your brother?'

Ellie pulled a casserole out of the oven and made her way over to the table, giving Morgan as wide a berth as possible. 'Last night. He was over at John Casey's place, apartment-sitting. Maybe he's still there.'

Morgan's eyes widened. 'Maybe so, maybe so,' he murmured thoughtfully.

After a pause, Ellie asked, 'Morgan, have you noticed anything about Chuck lately?'

'I notice many things, Ellie. I could, in fact, take a doctorate in all things Chuck. Could you be a little more specific?' Morgan said, sitting down at the table.

'More specifically? John,' Ellie said, sitting down opposite him.

'John... John...' Morgan stalled, glancing around the room.

'Yes, John! Morgan, what's going on between John Casey and my little brother?' Ellie stared at him with eyes filled with concern. 'If you know anything, tell me, Morgan, please. I feel as though I hardly know Chuck any more.'

Morgan sighed, looking at Ellie from under his heavy mop of dark hair. 'Ellie, look, Chuck hasn't talked to me about it. All I know is what I've pieced together.' He took Ellie's hand. 'John's been totally into Chuck from the minute he started at the Buy More. Always hanging around him, acting all possessive. I'm just surprised it's taken this long for Chuck to notice him. I mean, all those muscles? That jawline?' He leaned forwards. 'I'm telling you, Ellie, the man gets followed around the store by everyone from teenage girls all the way up to grandmothers with walkers. We actually have a thriving black market in DVDs featuring illicitly recorded footage of John shifting boxes.'

'I'm worried for him, Morgan,' Ellie sighed. 'I mean, what do we really know about John? He's military, he's older... That's it.'

'That's not quite true,' Morgan said. 'We know he bakes really good mini-quiches.'

'Hey, is that dinner?' Devon strode into the room.

'Argh!' Morgan jumped, pulling his hands away from Ellie's. 'Nothing happened, man! Nothing at all!'

'Sure,' Devon shrugged, crossing to the kitchen. 'So what's up?'

'Discussing my brother,' Ellie said with a groan, resting her head on her hands. 'I know I should be happy for him, but I'm not sure he knows what he's getting himself into. I don't even know if he came home last night! That's not healthy, surely, just sitting over there in John's apartment all on his own.' she appealed to Devon.

'Babe, you've got to let Chuck make his own mistakes. He has to follow his heart,' Devon said, bringing over a bottle of wine and two glasses.

'You think this is a mistake?' Morgan asked, resting his chin on his fist. 'Huh.'

'I don't know, Morgan. If John cares for him, I don't see how it can be,' Devon said. 'Just as long as he's happy.'

'Oh, I miss Sarah!' Ellie cried. 'I know I have to support Chuck in his choices, but they were so good together! She was so good for him. I was looking forward to helping plan their wedding. Ugh!'

'I'm sure Chuck will be fine. And if this doesn't work out, well, Sarah was willing to take him back after he dated Lou, so...' Devon placed a glass of wine in front of Ellie, then, stroking her hair, he leaned over and placed a kiss on her brow.

'I'll get going, then...' Morgan said, helping himself to another handful of nachos. 'If I track Chuck down, I'll tell him he needs to talk to you.' With uncharacteristic tact, he left Ellie and Devon to their dinner, letting himself out through the front door without even asking to take some of the casserole with him.

He crossed the courtyard quickly, and knocked at Casey's door. Although the evening was starting to get dark, there were no lights on.

'Chuck?' Morgan called quietly. 'Chuck! I know you're in there! Come on, man, open up!' He knocked again, then attempted to peer through the spy hole. 'C'mon, Chuck, Ellie's freaking out.'

The door opened.

Chuck stood in the doorway, hair touselled, a day's growth of beard on his cheeks. Bare-footed and with a red flush of stubble-burn across his chin and down his neck, it was impossible to mistake how he had been spending his day off.

Morgan raised his eyebrows. 'Can I come in? Just for a minute?'

Chuck glanced off to one side, then nodded. 'Hi, buddy,' he said, stepping aside to let his friend enter. 'So, what can I do for you?'

Morgan looked around at Casey's apartment, spotting the model planes on the mantelpiece below the flat screen tv, the twin computers set up at the desk at the back of the living room, the two plates, dinner half-finished, sitting on the coffee table. And one very large and scowling John Casey, dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt, standing right beside the door with his arms folded across his chest. Also bare-foot, and with a touch of stubble-burn, Morgan noted with interest.

'Hi John,' he said, resolutely upbeat. 'How's the training going?'

Casey growled.

'Right, okay, don't ask, don't tell, huh?' Morgan crossed his own arms, not at all defensively, and turned to Chuck. 'Congratulations aside, I just came over to let you know that Ellie's freaking out right now. She thinks you're just sitting here on your own in the dark.'

'You didn't tell her John's here, did you?' Chuck asked anxiously.

'No, man. I got your back, just like always.' He turned back to Casey, refusing to be intimidated. 'And in case you hadn't figured it out yet, that means I've got your back too.'

'Thanks, Morgan. That means a lot to me,' Chuck said, sitting on the arm of the couch. With a wince, he hastily moved to the seat instead.

'So what're you going to tell her about all this?' When Chuck didn't reply, Morgan stared at him incredulously. 'You have to tell her something, dude! She's your sister! Ellie practically raised you. You owe her!'

Chuck sighed. 'I know, Morgan! You don't have to tell me. But I can't stay away just to make Ellie happy.'

'You might have to,' Casey said, crossing to sit beside Chuck. When the young man looked at him, the hurt evident on his face, Casey put one large hand on his knee. 'Chuck, I don't want to cause difficulties for you at home. And I'm supposed to be elsewhere.'

'But...' Frustrated, Chuck stood. 'Fine. I'll go see Ellie.'

'Are you serious?' Morgan moved to stand in front of the door, one hand raised. 'You can't go see her now! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?'

'No, why?'

Casey grinned in a way that made Chuck blush and Morgan clear his throat uncomfortably. 'The hobbit's right. You can't go over there looking like that.'

'Like what?' Chuck ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it standing even more on end.

'Like I spent the past twenty-four hours fucking you into the mattress,' Casey smirked.

'Whoa, dude! I don't need to know!' Morgan put his hands over his ears as Chuck flushed bright red. 'But he's right. You do look like... like that.'

'For one thing, it wasn't the entire twenty-four hours, and for another, did you forget when I-'

'Dude!' Morgan said loudly. 'Seriously, I have your back but... Oh, now I can't even use that phrase any more!'

'So what am I supposed to tell her, Morgan? John? Huh?' Chuck looked from one to the other, his best friend, his lover. 'What about when I go home? I'm pretty sure I can't hide out in my room, since she didn't let me get away with that kind of behaviour even when I was a teenager.'

'Give me half an hour,' Morgan said, snapping his fingers. 'I'll go home, call Ellie, tell her you were waiting for me. You spent the day at the beach, you brought takeout, we're going to catch up on a little quality game time. That way you've got until the end of your shift tomorrow before you have to see her face to face. You give her a call in an hour, tell her you grabbed a shower, say whatever else you need to. But Chuck, promise me you'll tidy yourself up a bit before you come into work, huh? I think Jeff's planning on giving John here a dossier of your infidelities while he's been 'away'.'

For a moment, Chuck and Casey stared at Morgan, speechless. Then Casey nodded approvingly. 'Good thinking, Grimes.'

'Wow, Morgan, that... that would actually work,' Chuck said admiringly. 'Thank you.'

'What are best friends for?' Morgan nodded. 'But you owe me. An evening of Call of Duty. Sizzling shrimp. Say, Wednesday?'

'I'm all yours,' Chuck said with a heartfelt sigh of relief. 'Thanks again, buddy.'

'No problem. See you tomorrow.' With that, Morgan was gone.

'Not all Grimes', I hope,' Casey rumbled, amused.

Chuck laughed. 'Okay, mostly his. For the evening. In a platonic way.'

Casey smiled.

When Sarah pulled up at the kerb in her Porsche the next morning, Chuck was waiting. Dressed in his Nerd Herd uniform, clean shaven, he was leaning against the gate, flicking through tracks on his iPod.

'Hey,' Sarah said, leaning over to open the door. 'Good day off?'

Chuck slid into the seat, grinning. 'Yeah, it was, actually.'

She pulled away from the kerb, merging smoothly into the morning traffic. 'So? How are things with Casey?'

His grin got even wider. 'Going well, I think.'

'When I speak with the General later today, I think I should tell her we're breaking up,' Sarah said, glancing over at Chuck. '

'I thought we were going to wait until Casey was back at work?'

'With all due respect for your acting ability, Chuck, I think it's getting pretty obvious I'm not your girlfriend,' Sarah said gently.

'Oh.' Chuck looked at her, eyes wide, nervously watching for her reaction.

'It's okay, Chuck. It's nice to see you looking happy.' The smile Sarah gave him was small but genuine. 'I don't think the General will have a problem with it, since you aren't trying to date a civilian.'

'As long as it's not going to cause trouble for Casey,' Chuck said. 'I'd hate for him to be reassigned.'

Sarah shook her head. 'I very much doubt the General would reassign Casey. He's one of the NSA's top agents, and you're their top priority. I'm sure she'll see that this is the best thing for keeping you safe.'

'Thanks, Sarah.' Chuck said as they pulled up outside the Buy More.

'Let me know if you flash on anything.'

'I'm hoping for a boring, flash-free day.' Chuck kissed Sarah on the cheek and hopped out of the car. 'I'll see you later.'

All morning, the Buy More had a steady trickle of customers with faulty phones, laptops and iPods, enough that every time Jeff, Lester and Anna hung around the Nerd Herd desk, Chuck could ignore them. It was lunchtime before he got a chance to talk with Morgan.
He walked into the break room to find the Nerd Herd trio waiting for him, trying their best to appear nonchalant. Morgan was seated at one of the tables eating a sandwich.

'Hey guys,' Chuck said, pulling his own sandwich out of the fridge. 'Are you loitering here when you should be out on the sales floor for any particular reason, or were you just wanting to find out the intimate details of my love life?'

'Love life,' Jeff said, looking sideways at Lester, who nodded emphatically.

'Sarah and I broke up. That's it.'

'Wow,' Lester said, eyes wide. 'Are you really ready to take your relationship with Casey public?'

'Guys, I'm not dating anyone. Seriously. Now why don't you guys go do some work for a change while I talk with my best buddy here, huh?' Chuck sat down opposite Morgan.

'Chuck, you know you can always confide in me, right?' Anna purred, moving to lean over Morgan's shoulder.

'Thank you Anna,' Chuck said, shifting a little further away from her. 'I appreciate the offer. I do need to talk to Morgan, though.'

Pouting, Anna retreated with Jeff and Lester in tow, leaving Morgan and Chuck alone.

'So, good night?' Morgan asked, taking a sip of his grape soda.

'Thank you for covering for me with Ellie,' Chuck said. 'I really appreciate it. She sounded a lot happier when I spoke with her.'

'She'll be fine once she gets a chance to see you guys together,' Morgan nodded sagely. 'She just needs to let go of her dream of Sarah as her sister-in-law.'

'I suppose so,' Chuck sighed.

'You finally broke up for good, huh?'

Chuck leaned back in his chair. 'Yeah, we did.'

'Is she okay with it?'

'I'm not sure, but she's glad she doesn't have to cover for how I feel about John any more.' Chuck bit into his sandwich.

'How long have you been into him, anyway? I'm just curious, you don't have to answer,' Morgan said, stealing Chuck's pickle slice.

'Honestly? I'm not sure. I suppose I've been aware of him ever since he started working here. He's just so...' Chuck trailed off.

'Hulking?' Morgan supplied.

'I was going to go with physical,' Chuck smiled. 'Over the last few months, though, I've gotten, not comfortable with him, exactly, but...'

'But he's always around?'

Chuck looked quizzically at his best friend. 'Yeah, he's always around. And now, suddenly he's not, and I miss him being here.'

'Gotta say, I'm not missing being growled at. And pushed over. Or into boxes. But yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from,' Morgan conceded.

'Are you okay with this?' Chuck asked anxiously. 'I kinda thought you'd freak out too.'

'Chuck! Buddy!' Morgan punched him lightly on the shoulder. 'You have to give me more credit than that! Does our history mean nothing to you? I was with you when you wanted to see Batman four times in a row, remember? Questioning your sexuality is nothing new.'

'The costume design was excellent for its time,' Chuck protested. 'And you made me go see Days of Thunder as I recall.'

'And for that I wholeheartedly apologise,' Morgan said gravely. 'Dude, you're my very best friend. So you're hitting it with a guy who could snap me in two with one hand? So what? If you're happy, I'm happy. And lovely as the delightful Ms Walker is, I suspect John will be a lot more handy with a gun.'

'What?' Chuck stared at Morgan.

'Just think of it - the three of us against LargeMart! Unreal Tournament! With my maps and our combined reflexes? They won't know what's hit them.' Morgan grinned.

'I'll... let John know,' Chuck said, patting his friend on the shoulder. 'Right, I'd better get back to work before those three cause too much chaos.'

'Catch you later,' Morgan said, holding up his fist. Chuck bumped knuckles with him, then went back to his shift.

ETA: The Buy More black market John Casey DVD, courtesy of the supremely talented Druantia.