Thanks for all the reviews, guys, you're awesome. I could update quick because this one was already written. The others aren't finished (I'm adding in a Hannah one, too) so they won't be as soon. I've heard the next episode, Chuck versus the Fake Name is going to be a real bitch, so if this still isn't enough fluff to get you through the heartache, Chuck vs. the Les Paul is always an option :) Personally I think this one pales in comparison to it, but I had fun writing it so here you go.
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Chuck was sitting in his chair behind the Nerd Herd station. He had dropped his pen, and leaned down to get it. Once he sat back up he was rewarded with the sight of one Lou Palone. She looked exactly as he remembered her to and walked up to him.
Just like her fiery Italian self, Lou jumped straight into the conversation. "Okay, Chuck, we both know what the elephant in the room is. I took this to the Large Mart," she said, dropping her laptop on the counter. Chuck sensed some hatred towards the inanimate object. "Idiots told me they didn't know what was wrong. So here I am sucking up my pride and coming to my ex for help." Lou stared at him and said, "Can you fix it?"
"We don't need to start another meditating session before I start, do we?" For the first time since she'd gotten there, Lou smiled. He was just as charming as ever. And his discovery of hair gel didn't hurt either. He was looking very… Chuck-like: Cute, hot, charming, and well put together.
"I think I'm all set this time," she laughed.
"Please?" Chuck teased, "Last time I got a sandwich named after me. A pretty delicious sandwich by the way."
Lou looked at him faking suspiciousness. "You're not gonna charm your way into this one, Bartowski. Now fix my piece of shit laptop."
Chuck laughed and said, "Wow, I sure missed that mouth of yours." He then paused awkwardly, realized the unintentional innuendo. "I didn't mean like that, just… you—you know what I mean."
Lou spared him the humiliation and just smiled and nodded, deciding not to further that awkward conversation.
"So, uh, so what was the problem with it?" Chuck figured he might as well actually do his job.
"It won't take CDs. Or DVDs for that matter. Any discs. It just makes a weird noise and spits them out after five seconds." Chuck grabbed a random CD that was lying on the desk and tried inserting it. Just like Lou described, it spit it back out. Probably for the best, he realized, after reading the three words written on the CD: "Boobies!," "Boobies!," and – you guessed it – "Boobies!"
"Huh, yeah I see what you mean…" he said.
Lou leaned forward waiting for a solution to her problem. "So…"
"Oh!" Chuck said, snapping back into reality, "Right! This is a quick fix we just need to replace the optical drive and it'll be as good as new. Or as good as it was before the optical drive started spitting out discs," he fumbled. "Should be ready by noon tomorrow."
Lou smiled at him brightly, liking how comfortable he was in his own world. "So," she said, making conversation, "confiscate any illegal salami recently?"
"What?" Chuck then realized she was referring to his fake-real undercover job as an FDA agent. "Oh, I see where you're going." Chuck leaned forward and looking around cautiously, said, "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."
"Well," Lou said right back, "we wouldn't want that, now would we?"
"Well it would let me off the hook from having to fix your laptop."
Lou smiled at him and said, "You know, Chuck, I broke our deal. You can come to the deli and order yourself a Chuck. You have my permission."
Chuck's famous smile appeared at that and he said, "I think I may have to take you up on that offer."
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From under the Orange Orange Sarah was sitting in front of the monitor relaying the security camera's view of the Nerd Herd station. From Orange Orange she saw that familiar licorice hair walk into the Buy More and Sarah immediately decided she'd take a break. Sarah bit her pen hard as she watched the flirty conversation between Chuck and Lou. Sometimes she really hated how charming her boyfriend was. He was such a walking billboard for women with good taste in men it would have sickened her if not for her being one of those women. Taking the pen out from between her tensed jaw, Sarah wrote down on a post-it note, "BUY MORE 12:00," and stuck it on the edge of the monitor.
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At 11:45 the next day, Sarah strolled into the Buy More looking stunning in a light blue halter-top summer dress that ended at mid-thigh. Her hair was let down, resting around her shoulders in sensual waves. She saw Morgan tap Chuck on the arm and point in her direction, to which Chuck responded by looking at her and dropping his mouth open in awe. Whenever he did that Sarah always felt like he was probably picturing her cart wheeling or crawling towards him on her hands and knees with a predatory look. She loved it. Sarah loved feeling like Chuck's little sex kitten. She liked a man who could take a backseat, and that was completely Chuck, but that all changed once they were in bed. Sarah liked being able to feel tiny in his arms and trust him unconditionally as he took control. It wasn't just the sex, either. Sarah was head over heels for him and Chuck felt the same way towards her.
"Hey, Sarah," Chuck said, coming out from behind the desk. "What are you doing here? I thought your break wasn't for another ten minutes."
"My break is whenever I want it to be," she said before planting an attention-grabbing kiss to his lips. "And I wanted it to be now. I closed shop for the rest of the day."
"Okay," Chuck looked at his watch, "um, I still have one more thing before I can go. Do you want me to just meet you at the Orange Orange?"
"That's okay, I can just wait here." Sarah looked at him with no wiggling room. Chuck stared back before tentatively nodding his head.
"Are… are you sure? I wouldn't want you to be bored." Chuck did not want Sarah there for when Lou showed up. He wasn't going to cheat on Sarah, but he could do without his assassin-trained girlfriend picking a fight with his ex.
"Trust me, baby, I'm sure I'll find a way to occupy myself." The way she stressed the pet name gave Chuck a sinking feeling in his stomach. She knew. Who was he kidding? Of course she knew. It's Sarah Walker for crying out loud. Chuck couldn't blow his own nose without Sarah knowing. He couldn't help but notice how hands-on Sarah was being with him just then. She was marking her territory before Lou was even here. Normally Chuck would hate being monitored and controlled, but it was completely different when Sarah was doing it not to protect the Intersect, but to protect her 'man.' She reminded him somewhat of a feral cat when she got like this. It turned him on immensely.
Chuck had no idea what he was getting himself into when Lou walked through the sliding doors. She smiled and waved not unlike the time he fixed her broken phone. Sarah had seated herself in Chuck's chair behind the desk and Chuck stood next to her, gripping the laptop nervously in his sweaty palms. Lou's smile waned when she saw who else was there. She wanted to believe their relationship was just a cover, but by the look she was receiving from Sarah, something told Lou it was way more than that.
"Hey… Chuck," Lou said awkwardly as she got within speaking distance. Looking at the blonde who seemed to have no problem with staring a hole through her, Lou shot her a veiled look and added, "Sarah."
"Hi, Lou," Sarah said sweetly. Lou didn't buy it, but the two of them were so passive-aggressive in the matter that the only thing showing on their faces was a fake smile plastered on. "What brings you here?" Sarah's years of practice allowed her to hold a welcoming face when inside she was restraining herself from jumping Chuck right then and there just to show Lou who came out on top. Instead, Sarah widened her bright blue eyes a little bit more and lifted up the corners of her closed mouth just as much.
Lou eyed her before deciding to play along. "Well, Chuck, here agreed to be my knight in shining armor and fix my broken laptop." At that, Sarah's smile faltered but she quickly regained her composure when Chuck cleared his throat, also hoping to clear the tension. Both women dragged their eyes away from each other and looked at the man of the hour. He looked between them before handing over the laptop to its owner.
"All fixed," he said nervously as he handed it over the counter. His eyes widened as he felt Sarah place a firm hand on the back of his thigh, moving it up and down slowly. She was now sporting a small smile and her left eyebrow peaked. If Lou noticed she didn't let on, but Chuck sure did.
"Ah! Haha!" Thus was the sound of Chuck's well-known nervous laugh. Grabbing around him, he tamed Sarah's wandering hand. Not trusting her to contain herself, Chuck held a tight grip on her hand. This was Sarah's cue to finally stand up, making it painfully obvious to Lou and anyone else watching that Sarah Walker and Chuck Bartowski were very much an item.
Not wanting to prolong the awkwardness, Lou said, "Well, thank you. I'll see you around, Chuck. Nice seeing you again, Sarah." Sarah gave a wide toothy smile this time and actually waved goodbye.
Lou went out the exit that was attached to the rest of the mall, which gave her time to turn and see Sarah kiss Chuck passionately before dragging him out the front doors by the hand. "Whore," Lou mumbled under her breath.
"Well that was subtle," Chuck said once they were out into the open air.
Smiling mischievously, Sarah innocently said, "I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Oh, come on, Sarah," Chuck said, "I know you knew Lou was coming over to get her laptop. Why else would you be dressed like a goddess in 'fuck me' heels?"
"You really know how to sweet talk a girl," Sarah complimented him sarcastically. Leaning into his ear and pressing her whole body against him as she did, she whispered, "Maybe I wore 'fuck me' heels for that very reason, Chuck." Darting the tip of her tongue out, she licked his ear at the same time she placed her hand in a very sensitive area.
"I know what you're doing," Chuck groaned, trying to salvage whatever dignity he still had.
"So stop me," she dared him with a seductive whisper.
Chuck almost gave in when a plan that could easily backfire on him popped into his mind. "You know, Sarah, you're really sexy when you're jealous."
All memories of her intentions to ride him so hard he'd forget his own name, let alone Lou Palone, were lost as her promiscuous eyes turned a stormy blue. "I am not jealous."
Chuck smiled inwardly knowing he had just found his ticket out. It wasn't that he didn't want to take Sarah right then and there, but… he didn't want to take Sarah right then and there. Sarah had warmed him up enough to be okay with kisses in public, but he was definitely not ready to take the next step of whipping it out for the world to see.
"It's okay, sweetie, you just get intimidated by other girls. I understand." Chuck was digging his own grave.
"Ha, I don't get intimidated by other girls," she denied. "If anything they're intimidated by me."
"Well, sure they are. Once they see you bring out the claws. But that's more of a defense mechanism, isn't it?" Sarah looked like she was going to explode. She spun around in front of him, forcing him to stop walking.
"Let me make this very clear," she said as she stabbed her finger into his chest. "I do not get jealous of random girls who wish they were me. You flash that stupid, gorgeous smile at everyone you see. They get a false sense of confidence and think that it's only an eyelash bat away from you ripping their clothes off." Chuck kind of liked this Sarah. He felt like he was seeing the real her even though he knew she really was a nice, loveable person. "So then I have to step in and tell them the guy of their dreams is taken because he's the guy of my dreams. And the guy of my dreams only has eyes for me."
"Sarah, you know I would never even consider anyone else besides you," Chuck said sincerely as he brushed away a lose strand of blonde hair that had fallen into her eyes. "If I did, then it would hurt you. And I promise I'll never hurt you."
Sarah looked up into his eyes and Chuck could clearly see the vulnerability in her eyes.
"Chuck, I trust you. As hard as that may be to believe considering…" Sarah shook her head, not wanting to go down that path again. "I just don't trust them. I know the looks they get and I just get a little nervous. And I'm sorry about the way I… express that nervousness." She laughed awkwardly and Chuck smiled crookedly at her.
"You know," Chuck said, "if you had told me that before, I might have even let you continue with whatever your hand was doing behind the desk." Chuck winked to emphasize what he said.
Sarah laughed and said, "No you wouldn't. You're not that kind of guy." Chuck gently took her hand in his and laced their fingers together as they continued their walk to Sarah's car.
"I don't know, Sarah. You keep showing up at my work looking like that and that restraint could get worn away fairly quickly," he said, eying her from the side.
"Well then maybe me wearing these heels wouldn't be all for nothing," she sighed.
Chuck turned to look at her. "Who said it was all for nothing? My sexual restraint reaches as far as this parking lot. Take me home, and I will not be responsible for any of my actions."
"Then we're definitely taking my car," she said, pointing to the sports car that had no business being in front of an Orange Orange. "And I'm driving. Any complaints about how fast I'm going and you'll be complaining about how slow I'm going later."
Chuck smiled brightly and squeezed her hand. "Deal."
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Don't forget to review! I'll need some serious encouragement to finish the next few updates.
Up next: Egg Head
