A/N: Nothing much to say, really. Just a short (okay, it's short for me), transitional chapter setting up a couple of plot points before we get to the big stuff. As always, I gotta thank mxpw because, well…he's a splendid beta. I also have to thank the readers, of course!
Ah, yes, I can't forget about the playlist: http:/www(dot)playlist(dot)com/playlist/20484691723
October 6, 2007
Casa de Bartowski
12:35 AM PST
She leaned back in the loveseat in Chuck's entertainment room. Chuck's head was resting on her lap. Ellie and her ridiculously awesome boyfriend, Devon, were cuddled together on the couch, looking peaceful, happy, and in love. Sarah let her fingers tangle in Chuck's short hair, and she wished that it was longer.
There was a part of her knew that she should excuse herself and go stake-out Castle for any sign of Osiris, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The night had been too much fun. She had wined and dined with Chuck, Ellie, and Devon at a small seafood restaurant earlier. They had all laughed at Chuck's jokes, and she sat in amusement while Chuck had convinced Devon to display his awesomeness.
It was Ellie's last night at Chuck's mansion before she would move into Devon's apartment. The least Sarah could do was roll with the punches when Ellie had invited her over to watch a movie with them. After all, it would have been extremely rude to Ellie if Sarah had declined the invitation.
Her original intentions were to excuse herself halfway through the first Lord of the Rings movie. But before she could, Chuck had wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him, so she had forgotten to leave before Gandalf the Grey sacrificed himself.
When The Fellowship had ended, Casey had walked in to the entertainment room, and announced that he was going to bed. He had given Sarah a look that told her that he was actually going to go on a stake-out. That meant that Sarah would have to stay with Chuck until Casey got back. Chuck did need constant surveillance after all.
Devon had gotten off of the couch to pop in The Two Towers. Somewhere between the part where Frodo fell in that disgusting, murky lake filled with zombies and where the guy that was in that one horse movie fell off a cliff after his foot got caught on a gigantic pig-horse, Chuck had rested his head on her shoulder. As the movie progressed, his head had fallen on her lap while her legs were curled underneath her. It was uncomfortable, but Sarah let it slide. Chuck was probably really tired after his flight home from Virginia, she had reasoned.
"Sarah?" called a feminine voice, startling her awake.
Sarah rubbed her eyes, wondering when she had fallen asleep. She felt Chuck stirring, when she looked up at Ellie who was smiling at her.
"I'm sorry to wake you, but Devon and I are going to bed," she said. "You and Chuck should call it a night too."
She looked around to see if Casey had left any signs that he had come back from the stake-out, but she didn't see any. She was going to have to double check, though. "Okay," she said to Ellie, nodding sleepily.
Ellie frowned down at her younger brother who was still sleeping. Without warning, the elder Bartowski leaned down and flicked him on the nose. Chuck shot up, his eyes still half-closed, shouting, "Gandalf, no!"
Startled by how quickly Chuck had shot up, Sarah gaped at him. Ellie, however, flicked his nose again.
"Ow! Stop that!" Chuck groaned, his eyes slightly unfocused.
"Your big head was probably cutting off Sarah's circulation, you jerk," Ellie scolded.
Sarah laughed. "It's okay, Ellie, I'm fine."
"That's not the point," said Ellie, turning back to Chuck. "She was stuck in a really uncomfortable position because you fell asleep on her!"
Chuck's head snapped to face Sarah. He had an apologetic look on his face. "Oh, God—I'm so sorry!" he cried.
Sarah smiled and was about to tell him that she was okay, but Ellie spoke first. "Good, you better be!" she said, grinning, and ruffling his hair. "Well, you two—I'm gonna go get some sleep."
"Did Devon already go up?" asked Chuck, looking around the room.
"Yeah," Ellie replied. "Good night, you guys."
"Night," Sarah and Chuck chorused, both of them watching as Ellie made her way upstairs.
"Sorry I fell asleep on you," said Chuck, yawning. "You do make a comfy pillow, though."
"That's good to know," she deadpanned. "And it's all right. You must be tired. You were in Carina's office all night, right?"
Chuck gave her a confused look. "Oh, that," he said, chuckling. "Yeah. That office, I'm not going to lie, was pretty boring."
Sarah chuckled. "Well, not everyone's cool enough to be able to have videogames, bars, and big, comfy couches in their offices."
"I know," he said in a mock-grave tone, nodding somberly. "It's hard being this cool, you know?"
"I can only imagine." She sighed playfully and patted Chuck's knee. "Okay, I'm going to see if Casey's back yet. I can't leave unless he's here."
Chuck nodded, yawning sleepily again. Sarah uncurled her legs from beneath her, and began to stand up. Before she could fully stand, however, a horrible sensation of pins and needles shot through her left leg. "Ah!" she yelped, stumbling forward.
Chuck jumped to his feet, and caught her before she fell to the floor. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and she steadied herself by holding onto his shoulders with her hands.
Chuck gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay?" he asked, straightening both of them up so that they were fully standing.
Trying to shift her weight off her left leg, Sarah shifted her arms so that they were wrapped loosely around Chuck's neck. "Yeah," she said, chuckling. "My leg fell asleep."
Chuck's eyebrows shot up. "Yikes." His expression softened, and he grinned down at her.
"I know, right?" She laughed, and shifted her weight again.
When she looked back up at Chuck, she realized that their faces were very close together—maybe an inch apart. Their bodies were flush, pressed up against each other, close enough so that she could feel his ribs expanding and contracting with each breath that he took. If she tilted her head up a fraction of an inch, their lips would be able to touch.
The smile on his face slowly evaporated, replacing it with a determined look. His eyes never left hers. "I've missed you while I was away," he said softly.
"You were only gone for a day and a half."
"I know. And I missed you." He leaned his forehead gently against hers.
Her eyes shut as she let out a shaky breath, and her heart pounded against her ribcage. A voice in her head told her that she needed to stop this. Situations like this were what had caused her to be threatened in the first place. But they were alone. It was only the two of them in Chuck's entertainment room.
"I missed you too," she breathed, wanting to tell him how worried she was, and still is, that there were people out there that would kill him if she didn't do what they asked her to do in time.
Chuck pulled his head back slowly, and again, he looked into her eyes. He gave her a small smile as his left hand gripped tighter on the small of her back. His right hand brushed away some stray strands of hair that had been framing the sides of her face, and he rested it softly on her neck. Sarah closed her eyes again when Chuck leaned down. She could almost feel his lips against hers, and she wanted nothing more than to pull them down to her.
And then, her phone beeped loudly. The beeping noise echoed in the large room.
They both jumped back. Sarah had landed on her left foot. Another wave of pins and needles shot through her leg, causing her to fall sideways. With amazingly quick reflexes, Chuck caught her again before she fell and sat her back down on the couch.
"I'll get your purse," he said, frustration evident in his voice.
She wanted to call after him. Tell him that he didn't need to, and that he should stay, but he had already stalked over to the side of the couch where her handbag was resting. Sarah puffed out a breath of air, feeling frustrated as well. She knew that it was Casey who had texted her. Making a mental note to break Casey's microwave on her way out for depriving her of a steamy kiss, and most likely so much more, she crossed her arms across her chest and huffed out a long sigh.
At the same time, however, she felt relieved at knowing that Chuck was just as frustrated as she was. Well, she was downright pissed off, but it was mostly due to annoyance. She bit her bottom lip to keep from grinning as she realized that Chuck had feelings for her.
A few seconds later, Chuck returned, handing her purse to her.
"Thank you," she said, unzipping it. She pulled her phone out and flipped it open to read her text message.
She was right. The text was from Casey: "On my way back—I'll be there in five. Get ready to take over for me."
Sarah's face fell, and she looked up at Chuck apologetically. A part of her questioned why Carina didn't have to take over the stake-out, but she realized it would be for the best if she just took over. She needed to bring Osiris to Mary anyway.
"I have to get ready to go," she said, snapping her phone shut, and tossing it back into her purse.
"Oh…" Chuck slumped down next to her, looking disappointed. "That sucks."
"I'm not going to disagree with you there," she said.
He gave her a half-grin, chortling, and he looked back down at his shoes.
Sarah reached over and gently pulled his head back up to face her. Without a second thought, she leaned into him and pressed her lips against his. She let it linger for a moment, and pulled away slowly. He looked at her in surprise.
"Are you free for lunch tomorrow?" she asked, pecking his lips once more.
"I have to go to a marketing presentation," he replied, pushing his lips onto hers again. "How about dinner?"
"Yeah…dinner," she said breathily, pulling Chuck with her as she lied back on the sofa.
Chuck seemed surprised at first. But when Sarah framed the sides of his face and let her fingers get tangled in his short hair, he relaxed and began to kiss her intensely.
"You should grow out your hair," she said after she had pulled away for a breath of air.
"Maybe I will," he said, sounding distracted as Sarah began to kiss his neck.
"Eh-hem."
The noise startled both Chuck and Sarah, and caused Chuck to spring to his feet. Lifting herself up to a seated position, Sarah looked behind the couch to see Casey leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of him, with an amused expression on his face. Well, it was more like an amused grimace, but for Casey, an amused grimace was his version of beaming happily.
"It's pretty late, Walker," he said, looking down at his watch.
"Is it?" Sarah narrowed her eyes. All intentions of buying Casey a new bonsai tree after she had kicked it off a table when she found out that she had to be one of Chuck's handlers went down the drain. However, her desire to break his microwave increased. "I guess I should get going then, huh?"
"The taxpayers aren't paying your salary for you to make out with your boy-toy, so maybe you should."
"You are absolutely right, Major," she said in a forced, cheerful voice. "Just give me a minute to bid Chuck goodnight, and I'll be out of your hair."
Casey rolled his eyes and turned to leave the room.
Sarah looked at Chuck and smiled apologetically. "I should be going now." She wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay." He gave her a peck in return. "Goodnight, Sarah."
October 7, 2007
Orion's Lair
11:40 AM PST
For an hour, Chuck sat in a chair, not paying attention to the monitor from which his father was broadcasting. Because Carina was new, Stephen had left the house in Encino. Chuck had no idea where he went. Instead of looking up at the monitor, where Stephen's face was distorted by blue, raining digits, Chuck was playing Tetris on his phone. Bryce was sitting next to Carina, playing with a PSP, while Jill was sitting beside Chuck, reading a magazine.
Stephen wasn't telling Carina anything new from what Chuck had already told her, but she appeared to be listening intently anyway.
An hour later, Chuck strapped on his arm holster, and held his arm out in front of Carina. "You see this little lever right here?" he asked, pointing with his free hand to a tiny, metallic piece below his palm. "You just bend your wrist like so," he bent his wrist, and the palm of his hand pressed against the lever, "then you flick your hand back out." He straightened out his hand, the tranq pistol sprang out, and he caught it.
"Neat," said Carina, not really looking impressed.
"Our pistols have a new gadget built in," Chuck continued. "There's a hundred cc syringe at the butt of our guns. To activate it, just pull the safety all the way back, and it'll release the latch that holds onto your pistol." He demonstrated, and the latch of his holster sprang back while a syringe needle poked out at the bottom of the gun. Chuck twisted the gun, and held it by the barrel. "You can't just stick someone with the needle—it needs a bit of force. So pretty much, you can just pistol whip someone, and they'll take a nice, hour-long nap. With each hit, you inject five cc of Jill's tranq juice into the bad guy."
The redhead frowned. "Your pistols aren't reloadable?"
"Each magazine holds fifteen darts," said Bryce. "You can empty two magazines before you need to refill the gun with compressed air. The syringes are there for close combat or if you run out of darts."
She took the pistol from Chuck, and aimed it off to the side. "What's the range on this?"
"It's accurate to about seventy-five yards," said Chuck, "depending on if there's headwind or not."
"Not bad for a tranq," said Carina, handing the pistol back to Chuck. She nodded behind Chuck. "Why do you always wear suits?"
Chuck shifted embarrassedly, while Bryce and Jill laughed. "Because," said Chuck, "the body armor is really tight, and I feel uncomfortable running around with my…you know…out there for the world to see. Also because I thought it would look cool."
Carina's eyes flicked down to his crotch. She grinned at him. "Why? Is it small?"
Chuck laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he teased back, used to Carina's comments by now. He decided that he might as well give as good as he got.
"I would, actually," she said. "Now, I'm just curious."
Bryce coughed loudly. "Jill? Why don't you take Carina's measurements so that you can fit her with her own suit, yeah?"
Jill nodded, and turned to Carina. "Come on," said Jill, leading Carina into her office.
Chuck looked down at Bryce who was looking at him in an accusing way. "What?"
"What's going on with you and Carina?" asked Bryce, crossing his arms across his chest.
"What?" he repeated.
Bryce tilted his head and widened his eyes. "Are you into her?"
Chuck laughed. "Dude, we're just friends," he said reassuringly through his laughter. "We had a good bonding session in Virginia."
"Bonding or bondage?"
"Bonding," he replied, still chuckling.
Bryce was still glaring at him.
"Bryce," said Chuck, his face falling into a serious expression. "Come on, man. She's still into you. I promise you, I'm not into Carina."
"You're sure?"
Chuck sighed. "Yes. You know what? I'm just going to say it," he huffed. "I'm into Sarah. There. I said it out loud. Now, I feel like a little high school girl."
Finally, Bryce's expression softened. "It's about time you admitted it." Relief was evident in his voice.
"Yeah, well…" he trailed off, remembering the kiss from the other night, the kiss that Sarah had initiated after Casey's text message. "I don't see the point in denying it anymore."
"Good for you, big guy," said Bryce. "Anyway, Orion and I had a talk last night."
"About what?" He unstrapped his arm holster and sat beside Bryce.
"Carina. Orion wants her to scope out Wall Street to see how many people Omega planted there."
Chuck nodded. It made sense, seeing as Omega wanted to start another economic depression. There would most likely be a swarm of their operatives planted in Wall Street. If that was the case, then it would only be a matter of time before they caused a stock market crash. "She's stationed here, though."
"She gave the CIA Fulcrum's intel," said Bryce. "That means they'll be able to locate and capture Fulcrum's director, and so—"
"Carina gets the glory," Chuck finished, nodding.
"Yep, she'll be Graham's golden spy. He'll probably give her a choice of assignments. That's what he did for me anyway."
From what they had gathered, Chuck knew that it was widely believed that the Ring was based out of New York. He guessed that Carina could tell Graham that she wanted to do her part in taking the Ring down, and Graham would fall for the idea. Carina could request a cover job at the New York Stock Exchange, and his father could give her a list of all of the known Omega operatives.
"I think it could work," said Chuck.
October 25, 2007
Legends Fitness Facility
2:00 PM PST
Sarah was sprinting around the indoor track with a purpose in her long sleeved, light blue, running top. Beads of sweat began to drip down her face, but she didn't bother to wipe it off. Her lungs were protesting each time her sneakers pounded down on the hardwood track. She ignored that as well.
It didn't make any sense. Why didn't Carina leave? Graham had relieved her—had given her a choice of any assignment after Fulcrum's director had been caught. She was the CIA's golden girl for having found Fulcrum's headquarters while she and Chuck were in Virginia. She was the one that was responsible for Fulcrum's quick collapse. Carina could have gone anywhere in the world to do anything she wanted, and she requested to stay in Los Angeles to remain one of Chuck's handlers?
A terrible thought inked its way into her head. Carina and Chuck had been spending a lot of time together lately. Every day, after work, Sarah would see the two of them running around this same track together, or lifting weights. She had even seen Carina trying to teach Chuck yoga. What if there was something going on between them?
Ashamed that she was so worried over something that was probably nothing, Sarah sprinted past a woman. Her calves began to tighten, and her brain was telling her to slow it down a bit. So she gradually slowed to a jog, and finally, to a walk. Tearing her earphones out of her ears and tossing them over her shoulder to hang, she walked over to the side of the track where she had been keeping her water bottle. The water was lukewarm as it washed down her throat.
"You were running like the devil was after you," said a familiar voice from behind her.
Swallowing the last of her water, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned to see Chuck grinning at her. He was wearing a red Stanford shirt with a pair of dark blue basketball shorts.
She grinned back. "It's been a long morning," she said, holding out her hand. "Walk around the track with me?"
After pretending to ponder, Chuck shrugged. "I guess I can do that." He took her hand. In a deep, dramatic, British accent, he said, "Let us embark on a dangerous journey around the mystical air track. Who knows what dangers we may face?"
"Nobody does." Sarah played along, imitating Chuck's accent. "We may come across track trolls, and track goblins…or the evil ogre who goes by the name of Casey," she added when they walked past the weight room, pointing to Casey while he was doing a set of squats.
Chuck laughed.
"I take it that you talked Casey into coming here with you?"
"Yep. It's a Saturday, and I needed to work out," he replied, swinging their hands, "I didn't expect to run into you, though. Don't you have some awesome, super secret spy gym that only agents are allowed to go to?"
"I actually do, but I didn't feel like going there," Sarah admitted.
Hanging around Castle had been torture for her lately. Every time she walked past a group of analysts, she can imagine them singing, Another One Bites the Dust, referring to her feelings for Chuck, and the fact that she may very well leave the agency for him. Her feelings for Chuck didn't bother her. What bothered her was that everyone, evil anarchists included, was making a big deal out of it.
"Is it because you guys don't have a mystical air track?"
She grinned. "Totally."
He grinned back, and they walked in silence for a bit. The gym was mostly empty. Before Chuck arrived, there had been five people, including her. Now, there were seven, including Casey. The woman that Sarah had run past was no longer on the track, and was making her way over to the elliptical machine. It was only her and Chuck walking along the wooden circle. The silence was only broken by Sarah's heavy breathing from her run, their echoing footsteps, and the music that was emitting from her headphones.
Chuck leaned down close to her shoulder to try to figure out what she had been listening to and chuckled. "Really?"
"What?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Hollaback Girl?"
"What?" She playfully pouted and bumped her shoulder into his arm. "It's a catchy song."
"Indeed it is," he agreed, nodding. "It's certainly bananas."
A giggle escaped her throat.
"Anyway. You said you had a long morning? You want to talk about it?"
Sarah shrugged. It wouldn't be a good idea to tell Chuck that she was worried that something was going on between him and Carina. It would make her seem…possessive, wouldn't it? If she was under different circumstances, where his life wasn't being threatened because of who she was, then she would have asked him. But she wasn't. Even though it was painful, she was going to leave after she found Osiris. Chuck would be safer if she wasn't there.
"Come on, Sarah," he said, tickling her stomach and causing her to chuckle. "Talk to Dr. Chuck."
She grinned up at him, ignoring the heaviness in her chest. Ready to tell him that nothing was wrong, she stopped when she saw a tall, red headed figure from her peripheral vision. Her grin faded. Carina was wearing a dark purple sports bra and a pair of running shorts, and she was stretching her legs. Chuck furrowed his eyebrows in concern and turned to see what she had been looking at.
"I thought Carina was leaving," he said, looking surprised. "At least, that's what she told me yesterday after work."
"That's what I thought too," said Sarah, ignoring the bitter edge in her voice. Turning back to Chuck, she noticed that he was still looking over at Carina in confusion. She bumped her shoulder into him again. "You okay, Chuck?"
His eyes snapped back to hers. "Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."
October 26, 2007
Casa de Bartowski
8:30 PM PST
Chuck spread the mayonnaise evenly across the slice of egg-bread when Carina walked into the brightly lit kitchen.
"You're taking over my babysitting duties tonight?" he asked, looking up from the bread.
"Yep," she replied. "Oh, Jill's got my armor ready for me—and my mask too."
"That's cool." He grabbed a few slices of smoked turkey. "Have you decided on what you're going to wear over your armor? Oh, you want a sandwich?"
"Sure, but be sure to put extra mayo on it," she replied, sitting behind the breakfast bar. "And I'm not going to wear anything over the armor. I had Jill spray a layer of black latex over it. Pretty hot, don't you think?"
He chuckled. "Sure," he said, topping the sandwich off with a slice of Muenster cheese. Clapping his hands together, he began to work on Carina's sandwich. "Can I ask you a question?"
"If you're going to ask me if I want to do you on this counter, then the answer is yes," she joked.
"That was a close guess," he deadpanned, "but no. That's not what I was going to ask. Actually, I was wondering why you didn't take Graham's offer to have your choice of assignment? I mean, we had that whole NYSE thing planned out, you know?"
"I didn't leave because I knew that you'd miss me," she replied. "But seriously, Graham didn't even offer me a choice of assignments. He wanted me to stay here."
"Really?" he asked, surprised.
"Yep, I was just as shocked as you are."
"Huh…" He walked over to the refrigerator to grab two bottles of beer. It didn't make sense. Bryce was certain that Graham would give Carina her choice of missions. It was rare for Bryce to be wrong. He was more like Stephen than Chuck was. Chuck let it slide, though. Bryce had to be proven wrong at least a couple of times in his life, Chuck decided.
He handed Carina her sandwich and a beer.
"I have a question for you, Mr. Chuckles," she said, uncapping the bottle.
Chuck shuddered. "Don't call me Mr. Chuckles…it makes me think of clowns." He hated clowns.
Carina ignored him. "Why wasn't I invited to the Halloween party?"
"For a couple of reasons," he replied. He paused so that he could take a bite of his sandwich. It tasted good, he decided, impressed with his sandwich making ability. After Ellie had moved, he wasn't able to eat properly since neither he nor Casey was good at cooking. While Casey lived off his seemingly endless supply of Hot Pockets, Chuck had been living off of boxed macaroni and cheese and Top Ramen noodles.
"And those reasons are?"
Chuck swallowed the bite of sandwich. "I didn't think you'd still be here. Actually, that's the only reason. Oh, and Sarah's my date, and it's my sister's party. But if you want to go, then I'm sure Ellie wouldn't mind."
"I'll consider it," she said, taking a sip of beer. "What are you going as?"
"Sarah and I are going as Neo and Trinity from The Matrix," he replied proudly. "Sarah wanted to go as Han Solo and Princess Leia—the slave costume—but I thought she'd be chilly. Ellie's throwing the party in the courtyard of her and Awesome's apartment complex."
Carina stared blankly at him, slowly chewing her sandwich. "Yeah, all that? I don't know what any of it means."
"That's why Google was invented." Chuck took a long swing of beer. "Anyway, if you want to swing by, then you're more than welcome to."
"Do you want me to?"
"Yeah," he replied. "It'll be fun. Well, it might be. Bryce can't go, because Ellie thinks he's dead." Chuck shrugged, tearing the crust off his bread. He smiled up at her. "But you're a pretty girl. I'm sure you'll have fun beating guys off you with a stick. Actually, I hope you use a stick. Please don't bring a gun to my sister's party."
To Chuck's surprise, Carina blushed. He never would have thought that was possible.
"You think I'm pretty?"
"Uh…yes?" An awkward feeling crept through him as he remembered the way Carina had stared at his lips after the last Fulcrum mission. But that had probably been his imagination, seeing as he had been sleep deprived for nearly a whole week during the time of that mission. "So how are things with Bryce?"
She shrugged. "Terribly boring. I have to do all the work. I know there are things that Bryce can't do anymore, like the drain cleaner, the frothy walrus, and the hayride. But there are still a couple of things that he should be able to do like the dunking dolphin. He won't even let me do the double kangaroo scissor kick to him anymore."
What Carina had just said made absolutely no sense to Chuck. He got the general gist of it, but he had absolutely no idea what a double kangaroo scissor kick was. "I'm sorry." He couldn't think of anything else he might have said. "Out of curiosity, what is the double kangaroo scissor kick exactly?"
"Okay, so…" Carina grinned and held up her sandwich. "Imagine that this piece of turkey is…"
October 31, 2007
Echo Park
7:15 PM PST
It was a conflicting choice to go to Ellie's Halloween party. She probably should be in Castle watching for any sign of Osiris. It had been just over a month since his last sighting, and it made her uneasy. There was a chance that Osiris didn't know that Fulcrum had been shut down, and he that he would break into the dummy base that Fulcrum had planted in West Covina, so sometimes Sarah would wait there, inside her car.
Casey had insisted she take a night off. And if Sarah was going to be honest with herself, she was actually having a good time at Ellie's party. How could she not when Chuck, dressed up as Neo, and Morgan Grimes, dressed up as Chewbacca, were reenacting the bullet dodge scene from The Matrix while Morgan was wailing like Chewbacca?
Ellie had decorated the courtyard of her apartment complex excellently. Cobwebs hung from the pillars, plastic skulls and jack-o'-lanterns rested around the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, and she had set up a long food table off to the side filled with finger sandwiches, chips and dip, cupcakes, cookies, and a variety of fun-sized candy-bars.
She turned to the bar to see Ellie, dressed up as Eve with well-placed leaves covering her, and Devon, dressed up as Adam with a very well-placed leaf covering his—Sarah coughed—crotch, were dancing along with the others in attendance. They looked happy, she realized, smiling. Sarah was glad to see that Ellie had found herself a man like Devon, because he was, as Chuck put it, truly awesome.
Chuck walked up to her, still laughing from his little game with Morgan, and took her hand. "You wanna dance?" He performed a little cabbage patch dance.
Sarah giggled. "Sure." She let Chuck lead her over to the side of the fountain.
"Okay, I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything, but I've got some killer dance moves," he said, jokingly, bopping his head (out of beat) to the pop song that was playing in the background.
"Clearly." Although dancing was part of her training, Sarah did an out of beat dice toss.
"Wow, we're so white."
"I know, right? You want to do the middle-school shuffle?" Sarah stretched her arms out and placed her hands on Chuck's shoulder. There was about a foot and half of air between them, and they both burst out laughing. From the corner of her eye, Sarah could see Ellie running over to the stereo. A moment later, a slower song began to play. Ellie flashed Sarah a quick thumbs up before she returned to Devon.
"That was convenient," said Chuck, echoing her thoughts. He laughed and stepped closer to Sarah and wrapped his arms around her waist, while she wrapped hers around his shoulders.
Since she was dressed as Trinity from The Matrix, every time she moved, her latex costume would make a squeaky noise. "For the record, I should have came here as Princess Leia."
"I didn't want you to get cold."
"It's not even that chilly out," she said, pouting playfully.
"I thought it would be. I must have forgotten that we're in California." He shrugged. "But I think you look great. A lot of the other guys seem to too."
Sarah shrugged. She didn't care what the other men at the party thought about her, but she didn't want to miss an opportunity to tease Chuck a bit. "How does that make you feel?"
"I'm not gonna lie, it actually makes me a little jealous."
"Just a little?" She quirked her eyebrow and smiled lightly.
Chuck blushed. "A little more than little."
Sarah laughed, but her laughter died down when she saw Carina, dressed as Princess Leia in her slave costume, walking into the courtyard. Nearly every head turned in the redhead's direction, and she ignored them all, as she flaunted off her flat stomach. When Sarah met Carina's eyes, the other woman gave her a satisfied smile as she walked over to her and Chuck. She was supposed to be Princess Leia, damn it, not Carina.
"What's wrong?" Chuck looked over his shoulder, and his mouth dropped slightly.
"Heya, boss," said Carina. "Like my costume?"
"Yeah, it's cool." Chuck chuckled uncomfortably.
Carina pouted, to Sarah's dismay. That was her move too! "Just 'cool?'"
Oh my God!
"Why are you here, Carina?" Sarah asked, cutting across Chuck.
"Oh, Chucky invited me!"
"I didn't think you'd actually—"
"Shouldn't you be at your post?" She ignored Chuck squirming awkwardly.
"Casey's got it covered. Don't worry about it." Carina looked at Chuck. "Why wouldn't you think that I'd come? Hell, I'd come twice if you wanted me to."
Chuck, eyes flicking around the courtyard, looked extremely uncomfortable. "Um…I'm going to get a drink. Do you ladies want anything?"
"You know what I want," said Carina.
"I actually don't…"
"Vodka tonic," she said.
"Oh, right. Sarah?"
Sarah didn't take her eyes off Carina. "The same."
"Okay, so I will be…" Chuck backed away slowly, and then he stalked away.
"Nice costume, Walker," said Carina, following as Sarah led them over to the side of the fountain. "What are you supposed to be again? A black-colored condom?"
"Oh, that's funny coming from a transvestite prostitute," Sarah retorted. "You have a job to do, Carina. Just because you're Graham's golden girl now doesn't mean you can slack off."
"Why should you get to have all the fun?"
"Because Chuck's my boy—we have a cover to maintain." She cleared her throat. "Also, I've been at my post at Castle every night for the last three weeks. That's more than I can say for you."
Carina shrugged. "Like you said, I'm Graham's golden girl now." She looked behind Sarah. "Chuck's looking pretty hot tonight."
"I know, right?" Sarah looked around, and saw Morgan munching on a cupcake by the food table. He was trying to keep the frosting from dribbling down his furry costume, and an idea occurred to her. "You know what, Carina? You need a date. Morgan!" Sarah waved over Morgan enthusiastically.
"Walker, what the hell?"
"He's Chuck's friend," said Sarah softly through the corners of her lips. "He's stag, like you! You guys should get to know each other."
Morgan approached them, his eyes widening at the sight of Carina. "Hello, ladies." He turned to Carina and took her hand. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Morgan Grimes. And you must be…?"
Carina seemed to have noticed flecks of food all over the little man's beard, and she flashed Sarah a murderous glare. "Carina Hansen. I'm Chuck's assistant," she said, plastering a fake smile on her face while Morgan brought her hand up his lips.
"So, Morgan, Chuck's over at the bar getting some drinks for us," said Sarah, pointing at the bar. "You think you can help him out?"
"Oh, but of course!" Morgan cried enthusiastically. "I'll be right back."
As Morgan scampered away, Carina's smile transitioned into another glare. "Nicely done, Walker."
She gave Carina a wink. That's what you get for stealing my moves.
November 4, 2007
Orion's Cabin
4:15 PM PST
Chuck parked his Aston Martin DBS outside of the wood surrounded cabin, and made his way to the front door. Instead of knocking, he opened a panel, and scanned his thumbprint. The door clicked and opened, revealing a modest living room filled with some old furniture. His father was sitting in front of a very large monitor.
"Hello, Charles." Stephen didn't look away from the screen.
"Hey, Dad. You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about a few things," Stephen replied. "How did you slip away from your handlers?"
"I told them that I was going over to Bryce's with Carina."
"Hansen is at the base, then?"
"Yep."
Stephen nodded, but he didn't say anything.
Chuck looked at his watch. He had to get back to Los Angeles by 5:00 before it was Casey's turn to watch him. "I don't mean to sound rude, but we have to make this quick."
"Right, of course." Stephen took his glasses off and placed them on the desk. "There's an Omega agent planted at Legends. The one that you ID'ed—Sydney Prince."
Chuck stood straighter. "What? Which department?"
"She's in the finance department, overseeing the budget for the R&D department."
Chuck groaned. How could he have missed that? Research and development was his favorite department too. "So should Carina and I bring her back to base?"
"Just Carina," said Stephen. "I want to see if we can trust her."
"You're the one that wanted to send her to New York if Graham gave her a reassignment." Chuck wrinkled his brows. He realized that he may never fully understand how his father's mind worked.
Stephen scratched his arm absentmindedly. "Exactly, but she didn't go. There's something off-putting about that, because Bryce was sure that Graham would give her a choice of assignments. I think she chose to stay here."
"You think that Carina lied to us?" asked Chuck, scoffing. "I don't think she did. I think we can trust her."
Stephen shrugged. "We'll see. If Carina does succeed in her mission, have her bring Prince down to the holding cells in the Den. You and Bryce can interrogate her."
Chuck nodded and clapped his hands together. "Well, if that's all you wanted to talk about, then I'll—"
His father shook his head, and held up a finger. "One more thing, Charles, we're going to have to put recruiting Walker and Casey on hold for awhile."
Chuck frowned. If he was being honest, he hadn't really thought about recruiting Sarah and Casey after Carina had joined the team. But now that Stephen mentioned it, he didn't understand fully why he would want to put the side mission on hold. He guessed that it was because Stephen didn't trust Carina quite yet.
"Is it because you don't trust Carina?"
Stephen nodded. "There's that, and the fact that it was Sarah who gave Sydney a second interview."
Chuck laughed incredulously. "What, so you think Sarah's in Omega now?"
His father gave him a stern look. "Charles, you have to take these things seriously. And I'm not saying that Sarah's in Omega, but it's a possibility. Don't let your feelings for her get in the way of what's really out there."
"Okay, fine," said Chuck, rolling his eyes. He knew that Sarah wasn't in Omega. She had just made an honest mistake. If Omega wanted someone in his company, then they would have made sure their operative would be hired.
"Be cautious, Charles."
"I will." Chuck took his phone out of his pocket to check the time. "You think I could make it back to L.A. in thirty-five minutes?"
"You're going to have to."
"Wish me luck," he said, turning to leave the cabin. He stopped. "Dad, Ellie's getting married next May."
"I wish I could be there."
Chuck frowned. "You can. It's just going to be friends and family."
"You're most likely still going to have handlers by then."
"I'm sure that I can recruit Sarah and Casey by May," said Chuck, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Dad. She's your daughter. Don't you want to walk her down the aisle?"
Stephen leaned back in his chair and faced the large monitor again. "Your sister doesn't want anything to do with me. You can walk her down the aisle. She deserves to be walked down the aisle by someone who has actually been there for her." He began to type.
"Well, just think about it," said Chuck, turning to the door. "I know that you and I clash heads a lot, but I still consider you my father. And I'm sure if you made a little effort with Ellie, she'd want you back in her life too."
November 12, 2007
Legend Enterprises
9:15 AM PST
The clock was ticking. She could feel it. December was just around the corner, and still, there had been no sign of Osiris. It began to make her feel uneasy. What if Osiris didn't want to hit Castle? What if he had all of the information that he needed and was doing his part to put a stop to whatever organization Mary Bartowski was in?
Sarah looked over the itinerary that Chuck had made for her. He was going to be traveling a lot in the next couple of weeks for the public release of the L-Phone. She scanned the bottom of the paper. On the twenty-ninth, he was going to be in New York. If she couldn't capture Osiris by then, she was going to accompany Chuck on his trip. She needed to map out an escape route, but…
"Hey," said Chuck, interrupting her thoughts. He was grinning from her door. "Is it cool if I come in?"
Sarah smiled. "Of course you can. What's up?"
He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek and placed his messenger bag on her desk. "Wanted to give you a few things." He began to unlatch the front clasps of his bag.
She raised an eyebrow. What would Chuck want to give her? "What's the occasion?"
He looked at her in dismay. "Are you kidding? It's your birthday!"
"What? Oh…" The last time she had celebrated her birthday was fifteen years ago. Since then, she had forgotten what it was like to celebrate birthdays.
"Don't tell me you forgot your birthday!" Chuck playfully gave her a stern look.
"No, it's just…" She frowned. "You remembered my birthday?"
"Of course I did." He handed her a narrow box. "That one's for the cover." He smiled eagerly. "Come on. Open it!"
Unable to keep the smile from forming on her face, Sarah began to tear away at the tape. It was a habit that she learned from her mother years ago. "Always save the wrapping paper, Sarah!" her mother would say even though they always ended up throwing the wrapping paper away. When she finally unwrapped all of the paper, she saw a blue Tiffany necklace box.
"Chuck…" She trailed off with a frown. It wasn't that she didn't like the heart-shaped pendant necklace, it was very pretty, but it was too much. "You didn't have to do this for me."
"You don't like it?" he asked, his face falling. "Ellie told me that every girl would love getting anything from Tiffany's."
Aw…he had asked Ellie for advice. Sarah tried to keep from smiling, but she failed. "No, it's just that…I don't know. This must have cost you a lot of money."
Chuck laughed. "I know, right? Gosh, I don't know what I'm going to do for the rest of the month. That totally cleaned me out," he deadpanned. "But you're going to have to wear that. Ellie knows that I got it for you, and I think her feelings would be hurt more than mine if you don't wear it."
Well, if he put it that way, then she had no other choice but to wear it. She giggled. "Thank you, Chuck. It's beautiful."
"Here." He took the box from her and walked behind her seat. She felt the cool, white gold on her neck and shivered. "There you go. Turn around so I can see how it looks."
"Dork." Sarah rolled her eyes, still smiling, and turned around.
Chuck was grinning widely. "It looks great on you."
"It actually is really pretty," she said, fingering the pendant. Taking a step forward, she wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, Chuck."
"Wait, there's more." He gently pushed her aside and reached for his bag. After shuffling through it for a moment, he pulled out two more wrapped gifts. "Okay, I did these without Ellie's help. You would not believe how much Casey made fun of me, but this," he handed her the larger gift, "is a scrapbook that I made with a bunch of pictures of us from when we were kids. Please don't make any jokes about me making a scrapbook." He chuckled at his own joke.
Sarah quickly brushed a tear away. She was never one to get sentimental, but being around Chuck made her feel like…such a girl. She looked down at the wrapped book, imagining Chuck sitting in his room in deep concentration as he glued pictures onto each page. She could see Casey scoffing from the doorway, and Chuck ignoring the bigger man's jokes, and she chuckled to herself.
"Lastly, I made you a CD," he said, handing her the last gift. "Uh…it's just a bunch of songs that remind me of you. I hope you like it."
"I'm sure I will," she said, placing the gifts on her desk. Sarah stepped forward once more. This time, however, she stood up on her toes and placed a light kiss on Chuck's lips. "Thank you, Chuck."
Her lips met his again. She didn't care that her coworkers were staring into her office. She liked giving herself little reminders as to why she needed to do her part to keep Chuck alive.
A/N: Yes, the link that I posted above and in the last chapter is Chuck's mix for Sarah. Oh, those two kids…
Thanks for reading! And I know I sound like a broken record, but I sure do love reading the reviews that you guys leave! :-)
So a lot of big stuff is going to happen in the next chapter or two (it depends on where I split it). I sent a long stretch of monologue to mxpw a few days ago to get his opinion on it, and he said he was moved. I don't know if he was being serious or if he was kidding, it's hard to tell over the internet, but yeah.
I thought it would be fun to give out a few more vague hints for the next chapter: McDonald's (gross), a Winnebago, Russians, lots of Johnnie Walker, someone goes commando (gee, I wonder who?), and someone says…wait, I can't give out the next part.
But I will say that I have been looking forward to writing the next two chapters since I started planning this story. I only hope that I don't botch it.
Oh, for those of you that liked it, be on the lookout for another chapter of Confessions of a Nymphomaniac Spy (credit for the title goes to mxpw)!