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

Okay guys. I think that the title of this chapter speaks for itself. Wait, don't they all? Maybe I should have eaten dinner before I wrote this.

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.

Hungry For Ribs

x-x-x-x-x

Heather was a little hesitant about having Kate talk to Sparky in the first place. She really didn't want to force him into making a commitment that he wasn't ready for. But Kate assured her that wouldn't happen – so she finally relented. Heather and Sarah were waiting out in the hallway for Kate and Sparky to finish talking. They hadn't been there long when they saw a man approach them. Heather groaned when she recognized Steve Quincy. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said. "Do you think that I could have a word with you – in private?"

Sarah's eyes asked the question. Heather's almost imperceptible nod supplied the answer. "Excuse me, Corporal…" Sarah said as she leaned in to look at his name tag. "Corporal Quincy. We're actually in the middle of something. Could this wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid that it's fairly urgent, ma'am," Quincy said.

"Fine," Sarah said. "I'm staying. Whatever you have to say, I'm sure she won't mind. Right, Heather?"

Heather had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from grinning. She knew that she couldn't speak without laughing – so she just nodded.

The last thing that Quincy wanted was to do this in front of somebody. "But ma'am..." he said.

"I'm staying," Sarah interrupted firmly. "Lieutenant Moore has had a very bad day. First, some very bad men tried to kill the love of her life. Then some jerk tried to make her… Look, I'm sorry, Corporal. Perhaps you should come back tomorrow if you want to speak with her alone."

Quincy knew that he couldn't do that. He was trapped. After all, Colonel Blum would be checking tonight. If he didn't make this right… "Fine, I'll just say this," he muttered. "Ma'am," he said as he turned towards Heather. "It has come to my attention that some people might have been taking what was a joke between us seriously. I want to apologize if you've heard any rumors to that effect and they have caused you any discomfort."

Heather was, quite frankly, too relieved to be all that angry. She wanted to just forget the whole thing ever happened. "Fine," she said.

Sarah, on the other hand, was not in quite as generous of a mood. "This is the man?" she asked. "Joke? Are you really asking us to believe that was a joke?"

Quincy was starting to sweat. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "Lieutenant Moore and I are acquaintances. I assumed that she would know I was joking."

"And the kiss in the bar," Sarah asked sarcastically. "Was that part of the joke as well?"

Quincy was now reduced to a near whisper. She clearly wasn't buying this. "Yes, ma'am. It seemed funny at the time – but it was inappropriate. Again, I'm really sorry." He then turned to Heather. "It will never happen again. Couldn't we put this behind us, ma'am?" he asked. "After all, I did save your friend."

Sarah eyed Quincy like he was a tree – that she was about to chop down. "I don't know," she said skeptically. "You might sound sorry. But talk is cheap."

"What would it take, ma'am?" Quincy asked. "I feel horrible about any bad feelings. I'll do anything to make this right." At this point it was pretty much true. He would do almost anything to make this horrible situation go away – up to and including giving up a kidney.

Sarah looked at him critically for a long moment. "I'll tell you what," she finally said. "We're hungry. We didn't have dinner tonight. And hospital food – well we don't care for it that much."

Quincy's face brightened as he saw some hope. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "I'll be happy to go get you something to eat ma'am. What would you like? Maybe a pizza?"

"Ribs," Sarah said. "We were just saying that we were hungry for ribs."

Quincy winced. Not only was the closest rib place a few miles away – ribs were expensive. "Yes, ma'am" he said. "That will take me a while."

"That's okay," Sarah said. "We'll wait. There are eight of us. No, wait. I forgot about Janice and Casey. We're all pretty hungry. That's ten full slabs of ribs and sides. And Corporal Quincy?"

"Yes, ma'am," Quincy said.

Sarah turned to fully square off to Quincy. Her smoldering eyes left no room for doubt as to how angry she was. "I think this should be abundantly obvious – but I'm going to say it anyway. You are never to make eye contact with Lieutenant Moore again," she said. "For as long as you live. I hope that you appreciate the fact that you're getting off incredibly easy. You've violated some very serious provisions of the Military Code of Conduct. Attempting to coerce a female officer into sex is a grave offense. You should be spending some serious time in the stockade. The only reason that you're not is because you did actually help tonight. Now, instead of being a total slime ball, why don't you show us that you have the potential to be a real man – and let the last words that you ever say to Lieutenant Moore actually be the truth?"

Quincy was broken. "Yes, ma'am," he said. Then he turned towards Heather. "I'm really sorry," he said in almost a whisper. "I'm embarrassed. It was a lousy thing to do. I have no excuse. For what it's worth, I'm glad that your friend is going to be okay. I promise that I'll never try to contact you again."

Heather was to the point of almost feeling sorry for the guy - almost. "Fine," she said. "See that you don't."

"One last thing," Sarah said. "Please don't insult me by making me eat cold ribs. I'm in a pretty good mood right now. Having to eat cold food is one of my least favorite things. It always puts me in a very, very bad mood. I'd hate for you to have to witness that. Do I make myself clear?"

Quincy swallowed. If she was in a pretty good mood now… "Yes, ma'am," he said. "Crystal clear."

"Good," Sarah said. "Shove off."

Heather was able to keep the laugh in until he was out of sight – barely. But then it came out – pretty wetly. "I thought that Agent Walker was dead," she said. "Man, that was – harsh. I was almost starting to feel sorry for the guy. You nearly had him crying."

"Agent Walker is dead," Sarah said with her own laugh. "What? You think that Sarah Bartowski can't put a macho pig in his place? Look, sweetie, I'm very fanatically protective of my family. That now includes you. All things considered, I thought I was pretty easy on him. He's not bleeding. Besides, I really am hungry for ribs."

x-x-x-x-x

"How are you feeling?" Heather asked. Kate had just come out into the hallway and told her that Sparky wanted to see her. She could tell by the sparkle in Kate's eyes that she was very pleased with herself. That seemed hopeful.

"Not that good," Sparky said. "Actually, I'm feeling kind of horrible."

Heather leaned over the bed in concern and felt his forehead. "Sometimes the drug can give you an upset stomach," she said. "Would you like a glass of water?"

Sparky just winced. "No," he said. "I'm fine physically. I just feel horrible –because of what I've done to you."

That made Heather wince. So she just got on the bed and put her head on the pillow next to him. "I don't want you to feel bad," she said. "Look, I don't know what Katie said to you. But I do know that she was probably in here yelling at you. And I'll admit that was sort of because I asked her too. I'm feeling a little guilty about that. But listen to me. I don't want you to say anything that you're not ready to say. I just… Look, I'll wait. I'll wait as long as I have too."

"Kate was yelling at me," Sparky said. "After all, it's her favorite thing in the whole world to do. If yelling at me ever becomes an Olympic sport, she's a sure gold medal winner. I'm so used to that. Usually it wouldn't bother me at all. But tonight for once, she was right. I really hate when that happens. So, I want you to know how sorry I am. I'm sorry that I got jealous about your final exam. I'm sorry that I got jealous in the bar. But Heather – if you have any doubt how I feel about you, then I'm really, really sorry. I deserve to get yelled at."

Heather turned her head to face his. She could feel the tears filling her eyes. But this time, it was different. All she could do was nod without breaking down.

"I really do love you," Sparky said. "I've never met anyone like you. I guess I've always just assumed that you knew that. That was unfair of me. But it's far more than that. I'm crazy about you. I've never felt like this before. It shouldn't have taken me this long to say it. I'm really sorry that I let you hurt."

"I love you too," Heather said. "I know that we haven't known each other for very long. But there is one promise that I'm entirely confident that I can make - I always will. I'm sorry for being such a baby. I've never met anybody like you, Sparky. I almost lost you tonight. I just want for it – for us - to happen so much. I guess I panicked a little. Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn't easy for you."

The kiss – or more accurately, series of kisses, lasted for a long moment. Finally, Sparky broke the kiss. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked with a grin.

"Actually," Heather said with a grin. "We don't have a home. We have to go find the rest of the family. But first it's time for you to step up again."

"Step up?" Sparky asked in confusion.

"Don't get me wrong," Heather said as she began to unbutton her shirt. "It was very nice that you told me - very, very nice. But talk is cheap. It's time for some serious couple-type action."

Sparky's face turned red. "Here?" he asked. "We're in a hospital room. What happens if someone comes in?"

"They'll get a show," Heather said. "Let's make sure that they get a good one, okay?"

It took a few minutes for Heather to catch her breath. But she finally leaned over and kissed him. "That was incredible," she said. "But we really have to go find the rest of the family. I think that we're eating ribs – courtesy of your mom."

"Ribs?" Sparky asked. "Not that I'm complaining. I'm starved. But why ribs?"

Heather just pressed her lips to his for a long moment – and sighed. "It's a long story," she said.

x-x-x-x-x

Everybody else was already in the small room in the hospital café that Sarah had commandeered. They were also already elbow deep in barbeque sauce - especially Casey and Janice. After all, ribs had sort of a special place in their heart. Not only was it their favorite food – their first date as at a rib place. Casey had been eating hospital food for the past few days and he was starving. Of course, that wasn't that much of a stretch. Casey was pretty much always starving.

All of his macho pig tendencies aside - Sarah had to admit one thing. Steve Quincy had really come through with the food. He had to get a couple of his buddies to help carry it all. After all, there was no way he was going to let the food get cold. He actually never knew how close he came to suffering some great bodily harm that night. With a whisper from Sarah, Alex was barely able to intercept Kate just before she got to him. That would not have been pretty.

The team was actually in great spirits – and not only because of the great feast they were enjoying. They had foiled another attack. Even more important, they had done it as a team. There was also the fact that everyone was okay. Best of all, Sparky and Heather were clearly in the process of becoming a life-long couple. The group was eagerly awaiting their arrival with mixed feelings. They really wanted to share in their happiness – but they knew that every minute they waited meant that they were – well, probably getting even more happy.

So when Sparky and Heather finally entered the room holding hands, naturally they were treated to a round of semi-sarcastic applause. Since everyone basically knew anyway, there was no sense in trying to deny anything. Sparky's face got a little red – but Heather was simply aglow.

Casey was actually the only member of the team that looked comfortable wearing fatigues. He looked very much like the Colonel – well, that he was. He found himself suddenly presented with two of his very favorite things – eating ribs – and needling somebody. "Where have you two been?" he bellowed.

Sarah was just about to step in. After all, Heather didn't know Casey very well. She wouldn't know about his proclivity for making people blush. But she need not have worried. Heather was more than capable of defending herself against Casey's barbs.

"We've been working up an appetite, sir," she said snappily in her best military voice. "Thank you for asking, sir. Would you like any details?"

Casey tried to hide the fact that he was blushing. "That won't be necessary," he said.

"Yes, sir," Heather said as she sat down at the table. "Let me know if you change your mind. I must say, sir. It looks like you've worked up quite an appetite of your own. Perhaps we should compare notes."

That got the whole room laughing.

"No," Janice said sarcastically. "He just likes ribs."

Over the roar of laughter that flooded the room, Alex leaned over and spoke so that only Heather could hear him. "You were right," he said. "It is the damn-est family. But tell me anyplace that you'd rather be right now."

Heather's grin threatened to break her face. So she just leaned over and touched her head to his shoulder – and stated the obvious. "There isn't anyplace in the world that I'd rather be – or any group of people I'd rather be with."

x-x-x-x-x

Sparky and Heather were back in his room. It had been quite a day – and that was a ridiculous understatement. Of course, they still had problems. But they seemed ridiculously insignificant. Right now, Heather was floating on a cloud. All she could think about was how good it felt to sit there on his lap - how good he smelled – and how incredible it felt to be able to tell him how she felt. But even more incredible was how it felt when he said it back.

"So," Sparky said. "It's probably about time that we talked about our future. I mean, we're going to catch Shaw eventually. Things will get back to normal. What happens then? What is normal for us?"

Heather smiled. "As long as we're together, nothing else really matters. It feels good to actually have a future."

"But how are we going to work it out?" Sparky asked. "I mean, you have almost a year left in your current commitment to the army. I have to get back to school soon. How can we be together? We'll be half a continent away from each other. Heather, we're talking about some life-long type plans, right? Are we engaged?"

"I don't know," Heather said with a grin. "Technically anyway - no. For one thing, you haven't proposed. If you think I'm letting you off the hook on that one, mister, you're seriously mistaken. And we're going to have to wait a few weeks. It would be tacky to tell people that we're engaged in the same week as Katie and Alex. But if you're asking me to spend the rest of my life with you – then, yes, we're engaged."

"Yes," Sparky said. "Let's be clear. I am asking you that. I feel the same way. But then we really need to figure some things out."

"You're right," Heather sighed. "I know that we have to make some plans. But can that start in the morning? Right now I'm too happy to think about anything serious. We're together now. We have some time. Please – just let me enjoy tonight. If it helps, I can tell you – there are some things that I want to do with my life. I want to go to medical school. I want to be a doctor. But that pales next to how much I want – us. You're the most important thing in my life. I promise you that I'll do whatever it takes for us to be together. Will that get you through the night?"

Sparky smiled. "Yes," he said. "It does help. I'll make that same promise."

Heather noticed the look that Sparky was giving her. "Hey," she said. "I know what I look like. I'm not gloating. I'm just really, really happy."

Sparky's puzzled look turned into a grin. "Don't apologize," he said. "I love seeing you like this. But promise me – tomorrow – we'll find some time to talk. Those things that we want – they aren't going to just happen. We have to make them happen."

Heather leaned over and kissed him… and then she kissed him again. Quickly they were passionately necking. "I promise that we'll talk tomorrow," she whispered between kisses. "Assuming that you still can."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah led Chuck back onto the sofa. "I haven't forgotten about your night of passionate pleasure," she said with a soft smile. "But please don't make me climb back into that slutty tight t-shirt again."

Chuck didn't answer her – directly. He just kissed her. "You've had quite a night," he said. "You mated off another one of our kids."

Sarah smiled. "She really is a great kid," she said. "Besides, we still have one left."

"Poor Bryce," Chuck said with a laugh. "Now I suppose that you're going to be running girls at him."

But Sarah didn't laugh. "I really miss him," she said. "It's been two weeks. He's my baby."

"I hate to break this to you," Chuck said. "But he's not a baby anymore."

"I know," Sarah said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Chuck said. "You should feel great. We have three amazing kids. And we just added two more on this trip. Not only that – what you taught them just saved your son's life tonight. You should be dancing."

Sarah just looked at her husband. How could he possibly always know exactly what she needed to hear? "Our life is pretty great," she said as she touched her lips to his. "You're right. We're really lucky. Shaw tried to take that life away. It's time to make him regret that – and get it back."

"Okay," Chuck said with a grin. "But enough about Shaw tonight. When I said you should be dancing – that wasn't figurative. What about my night of passionate pleasure?"

Sarah couldn't keep in the wet laugh. There it was – the other thing about her amazing guy. No matter what the situation, no matter what mood she was in or how awful things appeared – he could always make her laugh. "Okay," she said. "When you're right, you're right."

Sarah knew that there must be an interruption coming. She could just feel it. So she took her time actually getting naked. And sure enough, there was a knock at the door. "Colonel Blum," she said as she opened the door. "This is becoming a little north of ridiculous."

"I'm sorry ma'am." Blum said as he averted his eyes. "You know that I am. I would have never come back over here tonight. But I just got outranked. All hell is breaking loose. The story of Director Shaw and The Ring just broke in the press. They're going absolutely nuts. We've been placed on full alert. The president wants to speak to us via video conference in ten."

Chuck took the news a lot worse than Sarah. "Damn that Shaw," he muttered, more to himself than anybody. "I really hate that guy. His timing really sucks."

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