I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

You find a lot out about a person's character when they are under stress. Some people step up under stress – and some people break.

I'll be sure to post warnings on chapters that have violent or sexual situations. I'm going to keep this T – but I might dance on the edge for a bit.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review.

The Breakup

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck Junior was bound and determined to find out what was wrong. Something clearly was. He had been sensing it for weeks now. But he kept brushing it off. At first, he kept telling himself that this was none of his business. After all, every couple goes through rough patches. But, who was he kidding? This was Katie who was hurting.

He was first able to put his finger on it at Aunt Janice's victory party. Before that, it was just a vague concern. Okay, so no one would like to see their girlfriend talking to other guys. Especially when those other guys were older – and clearly interested. But couldn't Paul see that she was working? After all, everybody else could see that Kate wasn't actually enjoying herself. You could plainly see the stress on her face. And wasn't Paul proud of her? He just seemed angry.

Chuck Junior was so genuinely proud of her that he could burst. He was probably the most proud of her than anybody – because he knew how hard this was for her. Sure, she was making it look easy – but he knew better. Didn't Paul just see Kate on GMA this morning? She had simply carved up those seasoned political hacks – who were forty years her senior – like Aunt Ellie's Thanksgiving turkey that she was probably going to miss next week. Naturally, Chuck Junior could never tell Kate how proud he was – but they both knew how they really felt about each other.

And Chuck Junior was, quite frankly, worried about her. She sounded so sad on the phone. It wasn't desperate – almost the opposite. She almost sounded resigned. Like she had given up. It managed to massively piss him off. With all that she was going through, she didn't need Paul's crap. It was time for Paul to step up and start treating her like someone he loved – not like someone he owned.

Yes, Paul was his friend. After all, he had introduced them. He even gave Paul tips on how to get her to go out with him. The prime one was to look at her eyes – not her chest. Sure, he liked Paul. At some level, he even rooted for them. But this was his sister. Paul clearly needed a kick in the pants – and Chuck Junior had brought his boots.

It took a long time for him to answer the door. That in itself surprised Chuck Junior. After all, he didn't have a class for a couple of hours.

When he finally did open the door, it was only a crack. And he was clearly still in bed. He was wrapped in a sheet. "Hey," Paul said groggily. "What's up?"

Kate hadn't said anything about Paul being sick. Maybe that's all this was. Paul was sick and didn't want to worry her – and she had misread the conversation. Chuck Junior was just about to make a joke about sleeping his life away – and then he saw her. She wasn't hard to spot. She clearly was making no attempt to hide. It was almost as if she wanted him to see her. If Chuck Junior hadn't been so shocked, he probably would have noticed how stunning she was. Her jet black hair covered her shoulders – but that was the only part of her body that was covered. After all, she was completely naked – except for the skimpiest of see-through panties. "Hey," she said softly. She made absolutely no effort to cover herself. "My name is Simone. You must be a friend of Paul's"

For his part, Paul's shoulders just sagged. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean for you to find out like this."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey sat in Kate's kitchen with Chuck and Sarah. They were trying to figure out how to handle this situation. And, as usual, the debate was lively.

Sarah had the most straight-forward plan. Her idea was to take her gun and shoot Shaw in the head – and keep shooting as long as there was enough left of his head to aim at. After all, that technique had worked brilliantly with Adam Colson.

Casey's plan was very similar. The only real difference was that it would be him to pull the trigger instead of Sarah. Oh, and the first place that he would aim his shot. Casey clearly had a vindictive streak.

But it was Chuck, not surprisingly, who was the voice of caution. Team Chuck was now officially only Chuck and Sarah. And naturally, Sarah was technically the Team Lead. So her decision was final. Of course, she would never go against him. She just wanted to hear his thought process. He had a couple of pretty good reasons – he always did. Neither of them had anything to do with not wanting to see Shaw die. He really didn't mind that part of Sarah's plan. But he also knew that simply killing Shaw wouldn't solve all of their problems – it would just cause more.

For one, it would immediately become a political issue. Sarah was already associated with Janice. And if either a member of her retro-court – or the Senator's husband – were to kill the sitting Director of the CIA, it would raise a firestorm of questions.

But that wasn't the main reason. He also wanted to know what Shaw was really up too. After all, Chuck never bought that this was about Shaw simply wanting Sarah in a romance. There was more than just that. He knew it. Was there a plot that involved more than just Shaw? If so, then killing Shaw would just tip them off and they would simply change tactics. They would still have surprise. If there was a larger plot – they would have to figure out what it is before they could defend against it.

So he told then about his plan. As usual, Sarah's eye lit up. She always loved to listen to Chuck's plans. Casey noticed it too. That's why he left. He clearly didn't want to bear witness to whatever congratulatory gesture Sarah had in mind. And Chuck was smart enough to sweeten the pot. They would find out what the plot was. Then he would 'let' Sarah kill Shaw.

It would be his gift to her.

x-x-x-x-x

It had been many years since Dr. Eleanor Bartowski-Woodcomb had been paged to the E.R. She was now the head of the Neurology Department – she had been for over ten years. Her office was on the twelfth floor. It was probably as far away from the E.R. as any place in the hospital.

When she arrived at the E.R., the nurse greeted her. "Good morning, Dr. Woodcomb," she said. "He is waiting for you in examining room D."

When Ellie pulled back the curtain, she saw Chuck Junior sitting there. He obviously was in a lot of pain. "Sparky," Ellie said in alarm. What's wrong?"

Chuck Junior had to smile – in spite of the pain. Aunt Ellie had called him Sparky every since he was six. That was when he learned about static electricity – how to create it by scuffing his feet across the carpet – and how to terrorize his sister by giving her shocks. "They won't treat me without a guardian's okay," Chuck Junior said. "My parents are out of town. I don't know how to reach them."

"What happened?" Ellie asked in concern.

"I hit Paul," Chuck Junior said. "I think that I busted my hand."

"Sparky," Ellie said. "We'll set you up for an x-ray. Why would you hit Paul?"

"The son of a bitch," Chuck Junior sighed. "I caught him cheating on my sister."

x-x-x-x-x

Elise sat in her kitchen drinking her mid-morning cup of coffee. It was a pretty typical Wednesday. The boys were in school. She was waiting for Paul to come talk to her. She really wasn't sure why Kate wanted her to talk to him. After all, she didn't know him all that well. But he sounded eager enough on the phone.

She also wasn't sure what she should say to Paul. Mostly because she didn't know what she was rooting for. Make no mistake - she liked Paul, as much as she knew him anyway. But she really didn't think that he was necessarily the right guy for Kate. He seemed like more of a boyfriend to the family than to Kate. He treated her more like a trophy than a girlfriend. Kate was, in some ways, tough as nails. But she was sensitive in her interpersonal relationships – fragile even. She really needed a boyfriend who would be supportive and nurturing… and that wasn't Paul's strength.

Elise grinned to herself. This didn't have anything to do with the time that she caught him spying on her changing into her bathing suit at the lake. That was just boys being boys. Of course, Joe didn't quite take it so well. In retrospect, she probably shouldn't have told him. She wasn't trying to make him jealous. She seriously thought he would think it was funny. She never expected him to get mad. She had to do some pretty sweet talking – and even a little something more than talking that night – to get him to let it drop. That's okay. It was nice to know that after being married almost twenty years – she could still press his buttons when she wanted too.

Fortunately, there was no way that Joe was going to run into Paul today. He was in Denver for the next two weeks. They were opening their fifth restaurant there. It was an exciting time. The business had really taken off. They were even going to let Robbie miss a couple of days of school and let him fly down for the long weekend. It was always Joe's dream to have the boys carry on the family business.

x-x-x-x-x

The first thing that Elise noticed when Paul walked into the door was the mouse that was forming under his left eye. She had seen enough fights to know what that was from. Paul was definitely going to wake up with a major shiner.

"Hi, Paul," Elise said as cheerfully as she could while she led him into the living room. "I glad you could make it."

"Thank you for asking me," Paul said. "What did you want to talk about?"

There was something about Paul's tone that was – well, strange. It made Elise uncomfortable. And when Elise was uncomfortable – she turned red. "I don't know how to start," she said awkwardly.

Paul just grinned. "I think I know how to start," he said.

Then, he did the very, very last thing that Elise expected. Suddenly, he was kissing her. It actually took a moment for her to realize that it was happening. There must be some mistake. He was definitely kissing her. She tried to pull away – but he had a pretty good grip. "Paul," she moaned as she tried to turn her head away from him. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. He just put his hand behind her head and tried to kiss her again – while the other hand found it's way to the outside of her blouse.

Okay, Elise may never have been the perfect agent – but she could surely take this guy. She quickly grabbed the hand that was attached to her left breast and ducked under it. She quickly had him turned and was behind him with his arm pinned behind his back. She used the leverage of his arm to slam his face into the wall. "What in the hell are you doing?" she shouted. "What is wrong with you?"

"Come on, Elise," Paul groaned in pain. "We both know why I'm here. Your husband is gone for two weeks. Why would you invite me over here?"

Now Elise was as pissed as she had ever been in her whole life. She knew that much more pressure would break his arm. And she seriously thought about it. But she didn't want to inflict that much damage. So she used her leverage to pull him back from the wall, and quickly slam him back into it. "Listen good," she said. "If you ever – and I mean ever touch me again, you're earning a ride in an ambulance. Are we clear?"

Paul could only nod.

Finally, Elise released him. At least there was no longer any ambiguity about what she was rooting for. She was still shaking with anger. "Get the hell out of here," she growled. "We no longer have anything to talk about. Either you tell Kate about this – or I will."

x-x-x-x-x

Alex was just arriving to pick up Kate. They were going from here to the club. And Alex was honestly pretty nervous as he rang the outside door to Kate's building – on multiple levels, really. For one thing, it was the first time that he would be in Kate's apartment. That in itself was intimidating. After all, she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. It was hard to not act like a stammering idiot in front of her. She buzzed him in without a word.

Then there was that. Kate was much more than beautiful. That wasn't even her biggest quality. She was… what was she? The only thing that Alex could come up with was – incredible – in every single way that someone could be incredible. Kate Bartowski was everything that Alex had ever dreamed about in a woman, all rolled up into one incredible package. She was funny - and smart – and interested in the same things – and nice – and… was with someone else. This was never going to happen. He had to get that out of his head. She clearly didn't see him that way. She said it herself. She wanted a friend who she could trust. There were two hundred and one reasons why they could never happen. She was going out tonight and mentor him on how to successfully pick up chicks. Did that sound like someone who was even remotely interested in romance?

As Alex knocked on her door, he quickly came to a decision. Kate Bartowski was completely out of his league. He simply had to quit pining after her. Otherwise, he was just going to be miserable – pathetic – a love sick… Then Kate opened the door – and all of that resolve instantly vanished. It was gone like a soap bubble on a hot afternoon. She was standing there with tears running down her face.

Immediately, Alex's protective instinct kicked in. So he quickly stepped into the room and closed the door. "Kate," he said. "What's wrong?"

Kate didn't really respond – not with words anyway. Of course, Alex wasn't aware of how Kate hated to cry - especially in front of anybody. She never wanted to view herself as a damsel in distress. She hated women who played tears to manipulate guys. It just didn't fit how she saw herself. So when Kate threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, he really didn't know how impressed he should have been. All he knew for sure was that she was hurting – and that he had to make it stop – whatever it was. So he reached around her and gently rubbed her back while she sobbed. "Katie," he repeated as softly as he could. "Tell me what's wrong."

x-x-x-x-x

This was simultaneously turning out to be the best night of Alex's young life – and also the worst.

On the plus side, he was sitting on the couch holding an angel in his arms. She felt… well, incredible seemed to be the word of the night – overused maybe – but it was the only word that could describe how he felt. She was sitting there with her face buried into his neck. She had stopped crying – well mostly. Alex was beginning to think that she had fallen asleep.

But she hadn't. And that led to the bad part. Alex had to sit there and listen to Kate recap, in amazingly vivid detail, her five year relationship with this jerk who had just dumped her right when she needed him the most. It pissed him off so much that he was having a hard time sitting there listening to her hurting. But this is what she needed. That's what friends did for each other, right?

After Kate stopped crying, she half-heartedly offered to still take Alex to the club. But that would be silly. Neither of them was in the mood to go out. Alex offered to leave her alone – but she pleaded with him to stay. And that suited him fine. After all, this was the only place he wanted to be anyway.

Janice was a scheduled guest on one of the cable news channels at nine, so they decided just to stay in and watch her. Alex knew this great pizza place. That was a home run with Kate. She loved pizza – and could never get Paul to order one. So they ordered a large pizza with the works. Kate had a magnum of champagne that one of the supporters had given her as an election victory / I'd-love-to-get-you-drunk present in the refrigerator. Pizza and champagne wasn't a classic combination – but it worked.

They quickly found that they were having a great time - especially after watching Janice's interview. After all, she was a genius at turning the tables on a hostile interviewer and making him look foolish. Wouldn't they ever learn? They were both soon giggling at the poor guy. Alex even impressed her by pointing out a couple of details in the interview that they could get some mileage out of. Kate made a mental note to follow up with him tomorrow.

"Thank you for being my friend tonight," Kate said with the first relaxed smile that Alex had seen. She poured herself another glass. "I hate to cry – but I really needed that. I probably looked really foolish."

"Trust me," Alex said. "You didn't look foolish at all. You looked…" Alex wanted to tell her that she looked incredible - that she always looked incredible – but that would be awkward.

Kate didn't let him off the hook. "I looked?" she asked. Her smile had turned sly. "How did I look?"

Alex didn't know what to say – so he settled for the truth. "You looked incredible," he said. "You always do."

Kate just continued the sly smile. The blush that was well into his face was so cute. "Thanks," she said softly. "That was very sweet. I needed to hear that."

Kate was clearly vulnerable. This was getting into dangerous territory. Alex knew that he had better change the subject – and the mood. "You're welcome," he finally said. "For what it's worth, that guy is an idiot. Are you feeling a little better?"

"I am," Kate said with a sigh. "Paul just wasn't the one. I should have realized that a long time ago. I just was lazy. Paul was too easy. I'm sorry that I ruined our night."

"Don't worry about that," Alex said with his own smile. "I'm having a good time. I'm just sorry to see you hurting. There will be plenty of nights to see me make a fool out of myself trying to pick up chicks in a club."

Kate giggled. The champagne was clearly starting to have an effect. "Why do you think you're going to make a fool of yourself?" she asked. "I told you that I'm a great wingman. You'll see."

"I'll take your word for it," Alex said with a grin. He was really starting to enjoy tipsy Kate. Her words were starting to really slur. It was a side of her that he had never seen. Actually, it was a side of her that nobody had ever seen. It was her first time.

"We have to practice," Kate said excitedly.

"Practice?" Alex questioned as his grin broadened. "What do we need to practice?"

"Being a couple, silly," Kate said. "We're going to have to sell that we're a couple."

Alex just scoffed. "Nobody is going to buy us as a couple," he said. "Look at us."

Kate sighed. "Will you stop being so negative?" she scolded with a silly grin as she took another big drink. "We can certainly sell ourselves as a couple. They just have to see us kiss."

"Umm… Wow, Kate," Alex stammered. "I don't think so." He knew that he was about to fall hard as it was. And that was stupid. If she kissed him…

"Chicken," Kate pouted. "Are you seriously saying that you won't kiss me? Are you trying to hurt my feelings?"

Now he was trapped – and he knew it. When she put it like that… "Of course not," Alex said quickly. Maybe he could keep this light. "What kind of kiss are we talking about?"

Kate actually thought about it for a moment. "Well," she said. "It has to be hot enough to sell that we're a couple – but if it's too hot, it will scare them away. How about this?"

The instant that Kate touched her lips to Alex's something happened. She was genuinely surprised by how intense it was. She knew that kissing Alex would be nice. After all, she had just plainly manipulated him into letting her. But she didn't expect this. Kate was stunned as she felt the huge amount of electricity between them. They both did. It felt so… well, electric. So she reached behind his head and pulled him in closer.

Alex knew right away that he was in serious trouble. That was the most intense experience of his life. But he couldn't tell Kate that. He had to find some way to keep this light. As soon as the kiss broke, Alex smiled. "I think that was too hot," he said.

"Yeah," Kate agreed. "It would scare them away." Then she moved in and kissed him again. This time, there could be no pretense of any practice. It wasn't a kiss that would ever happen in public. Their tongues danced for a long moment. "I think I know what my problem is," she whispered. Her words were now noticeably slurred. "I'm too uptight. That's what drove Paul away. I need to loosen up." So she reached down and pulled her shirt over her head.

Alex was wrong just a second ago. If their first kiss was intense – this was a hundred times that. To say that he was surprised was a gross understatement. He watched as she shyly held her shirt in front of her for a moment – and then let it slip to the floor. Wow - he couldn't imagine a more erotic sight. Her bra wasn't exactly transparent – but it didn't hide much either. He could clearly see the outline of her breasts raising and falling with each breath. He was simply mesmerized.

Once Alex could tear his attention away from Kate's chest, he knew that he had to do something. Of course, he knew where this was quickly heading. And he was instantly ashamed of himself that he was even considering it. He knew that he couldn't take advantage of her – not when she was dead drunk and on the rebound. That's not what friends did.

Alex really didn't have any decision to make. He would much rather be her friend for the rest of her life – than her lover for one night. But he knew that he had to act quickly. Her hands were already reaching down to take off her pants. She had already unbuttoned them. So he reached down and grabbed her hands and pulled her into his chest. "Come on, Katie," he whispered. "Not tonight… Not like this."

Kate just relaxed into his arms. "Spoil sport," she mumbled. Her words were so faint and slurred that Alex really couldn't understand them. So he just held her. But after a few moments time it really didn't matter. Kate was fast asleep anyway.

Alex picked her up and carried her to her bed. He really didn't know what to do. Should he take her pants off and put her under the covers? Should he just leave her on top of the covers? He finally decided that her pants were almost off anyway – and she would be much more comfortable. So he pulled them the rest of the way off, and as quickly as he could, put her in bed. As he pulled the sheet up to her neck, he gently kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Katie," he whispered sadly.

When he got to the door, he looked back at her one last time. She was so beautiful lying there sleeping. Alex knew that the image of her lying there in only her underwear was going to haunt him for a long, long time. He was still reeling from the electricity of their last kiss. He never knew that it was even possible to want something so badly. But he knew… she really didn't want this. She was just drunk and hurting. He would never be able to live with himself.

"Okay, Kate," he sighed into the darkness. "If you could only do that when you were sober." But he knew that it would never happen. And he also knew something else. His personal battle was now forever lost. For the first time in his life he was in love. He was now falling helplessly, hopelessly in love - with someone who he could never be with. "Congratulations, dumb ass," he berated himself. "You truly are pathetic. Well, at least, now we only have two hundred reasons…"

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