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

It's time for the weddings. And the party afterward. Poor Bryce is still not having a real good day. And why are Sarah and Elise eyeball to eyeball?

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.

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Two and a Half Weddings

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Bryce was just tying his tie when Chuck lightly knocked on his door – and popped his head in. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Fine," Bryce said with a sigh. "Alex has my best suit – and my best tie."

"Well," Chuck said. "He is getting married today. Maybe we can cut him some slack."

"Mom's not happy with me," Bryce said. "I'm not really sure why this time."

"Mom's not happy with anybody right now," Chuck said with a sad smile. "Maybe we can cut her some slack too. She's really tense about the weddings – and The President. Just stay out of her way for today. Trust me, it will be better tomorrow."

"Dad," Bryce said. "I want to apologize for trying to get you to overrule Mom. That was stupid. I was just desperate. It won't happen again."

Chuck went over and put his hand on Bryce's back. "I know," he said. "It's been a really hard couple of weeks for Mom. Please don't judge her too harshly. Just stay out of her way today. Things will get better."

x-x-x-x-x

The weddings went well. Both of them. After they finally got to them, that is. First The President's people insisted on a huge photo-op with Kate highlighting her role in the capture of Volkoff. Kate particularly bristled at the thought of him using her for his own political reasons. So she made sure that Janice was also in every shot.

Then The President held a press conference – and it was Janice's turn to bristle. So much so that she called Kate and Alex into her room to make some last minute revisions to tomorrow's announcement speech. It was time to take the gloves off.

When they finally got around to the weddings, Sarah insisted that Chuck walk Kate down the aisle. After all, it was a promise that they had made to each other before she was even born.

Heather took the opportunity to ask Colonel Blum to escort her down the aisle. They made a striking pair, in their dress uniforms.

The double ceremony itself didn't take very long. With the President in attendance, they took a little more time than the usual Vegas wedding. But it was still brief. Not that it was important to anybody anyway. They all four said 'I do' and that's all that really mattered. Then it was time for the party.

The President stayed just long enough to dance with both brides. Kate actually made him wait. She insisted that her first two dances as a new bride were going to be with her new husband – and her father. Of course, it didn't help much that Kate couldn't stand him. It was really hard to pretend to be friendly with the man she was working so hard to make unemployed.

Sarah had finally gotten back to their table after dancing with The President, and Chuck, and Sparky, and finally Alex. After all of the tension of the weddings and all of the extra security caused by The President being there, it actually felt good to slump in her seat and relax for a minute. But something didn't seem right. Then it hit her. "Where is Bryce?" she asked.

Elise glared at her for a long moment. "You don't even know do you?" she finally snapped. "He's up in the room."

Sarah wasn't sure what to make of Elise's tone. "Why is he in his room?" she asked. "Is he still pouting about me not letting him go down to the Strip? I've about had it with him today. If he pulls this crap…"

"They made him leave," Elise interrupted. "The manager came to him and said that nobody under twenty-one could be in the club after six. It was their policy. They must not realize that Sparky isn't twenty-one yet. Poor Bryce isn't having the best day. First he gets dumped. Then this happens. Don't worry – not that you actually were. He's fine – just a little down. I was up there for a while. So was Chuck. Ellie just went up and checked on him. I think that General Beckman is going to go in a few minutes."

"When did this happen?" Sarah demanded, ignoring Elise's not so subtle shot. "When did he get dumped? Why didn't I know about any of this?"

"I don't know," Elise snapped. Now there could be no mistaking the anger in her voice. "I think that you might have been too busy hugging Alex to worry much about Bryce."

Sarah stormed over to where Chuck was standing. "Why didn't I know about Bryce being asked to leave?" she demanded.

"Bryce asked me not to tell you," Chuck said. "He didn't want to cause you any more stress. He knows that you're not happy with him. He's just trying to stay out of your way."

Sarah stormed back over, grabbed Elise's hand, and virtually dragged her to a quiet corner of the room. "Okay, Elise," she said firmly. "What in the hell is going on here? If you have something to say to me – just say it. Do you think that I should have let Bryce go this morning?"

Elise glared at Sarah for a long moment. "Let's be clear," she finally said. "Are you actually asking for my opinion? The great Sarah Walker…"

Sarah did a double take at the venom that was so clearly flowing from Elise. "Okay, Elise," she said. "What's really going on here? You can't be this angry with me because I wouldn't let my sixteen-year-old son go by himself to the Las Vegas Strip."

"Of course not," Elise snapped. "I'm not angry with you about that at all. Parents make those kinds of decisions every day. But since you asked, yes, I would have let him go. If you realize it or not, what you just told Bryce by not letting him go is that you didn't trust him enough to walk with a girl on a public street – in the middle of the day. I would have set some ground rules. I would have made him bring this girl up to meet me. I would have insisted that he check in with me on his cell once an hour. But that's me. You made another decision. That's your perfect right. If I or anyone else disagree that's too bad. I don't question your right to be his mom. If fact, I would encourage it. It doesn't happen often enough."

That was enough to make Sarah bristle. "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sarah demanded. "Elise, why am I getting this crappy attitude? Okay, I missed the fact that they asked Bryce to leave. I feel horrible about that – but I was a little busy all day. Two of my kids just got married here an hour ago. I didn't know that he got dumped this morning – but he doesn't talk to me about his love life anyway. None of the kids ever has. That's more your territory."

Elise took a deep breath and calmed herself. "For one thing, he really doesn't have a love life," she said sadly. "He just doesn't have any confidence with girls – and they see that coming from a mile away. Sparky and Bryce are pretty much opposites in that regard. The fact that you don't even know that speaks volumes to me. He had a chance to actually talk to a pretty girl today. And maybe even a little more than talk – but she didn't want to be saddled with the required red-headed baby-sitter. You really don't have a clue what you're doing to him, do you? You can really stand there and have no idea how desperately he seeks your approval. Is it really possible that you don't see how devastated he is when he sees you fawn so much over Sparky and Alex then give him the cold shoulder?"

"Come on," Sarah said. "Elise, be reasonable. They just got married an hour ago. This is those two guys wedding day. I had to fawn over them. Bryce is a smart guy. He has to understand that."

"Of course," Elise said. "I understand about today. Bryce does too. You don't give him nearly enough credit. Of course he does. Here's a news flash. Bryce loves Sparky and Kate – and even Alex and Heather as much as anybody does. He's as proud of them and as happy for them as you are. It's not about today. It's about yesterday – and the weeks before – and the years before. You do realize that Bryce is as much of a hero here as anybody, right? He did everything that we allowed him to do. He drove the guys to my place when they rescued me. Bryce is the one who tranq-ed the bad guy that was getting ready to shoot Alex. He was getting in the car to come with us when I made him get out and gave him another assignment. He saved Ellie and Devon. If he hadn't contacted General Beckman when he did, Sparky and Joe would have almost certainly been killed because Blum wouldn't have been there to save them. If that had happened we would have had a serious fight on our hands – one that, even if we had won, it wouldn't have been in time to save Casey. If Bryce hadn't gotten in touch with Joe, he and Robbie would have been sitting ducks. If I would have asked Bryce to come with us and be the diversion instead of Sparky, he'd have done it."

"I agree with all of that," Sarah said. "Absolutely - why does anybody even question that? Bryce was nothing short of phenomenal. I'm so proud of him that I could cry. He was…"

"Really," Elise interrupted sarcastically. "Because I noticed that you didn't introduce Bryce to The President as part of the team. You introduced Alex. You introduced Sparky. Why not Bryce?"

Sarah's shoulders noticeably slumped – and she immediately blinked back some tears. "Damn it," she said, more to herself than to Elise. "I forgot all about that. You're absolutely right. I sure should have. I was going to. Where was he?"

"He was staying out of your way," Elise snapped. "That's what Chuck told him to do."

"He should have been there," Sarah said sadly. "I should have made sure. But we got all involved with the photo-op over the Volkoff capture with Kate. Then there was the press conference. With everything going on, it slipped my mind. That was just plain awful of me. That must have crushed him. I feel horrible about it. I will do something to make that right to him. I promise you that. I am clearly proud of Bryce. He is definitely part of the team. We'd be dead without him."

"Have you ever told Bryce that?" Elise gently asked. "Because I guarantee you that he doesn't think that you believe any of that. He's still panicked that you're mad at him for driving your car that night. He told me that himself this morning. Don't get me wrong. I love Alex too. But nobody questions if you admire him – because everyone sees you constantly fawning over him. All I've seen you do with Bryce since we've been back is to either ignore him or be cross with him. Have I missed something?"

The redness in Sarah's face answered the question. "We've been busy," she said, again more to herself than Elise. "We've been consumed for the past couple of days trying to catch Volkoff and Shaw. Alex was a key part of that. Bryce is only sixteen. Elise, he's my baby. There is no way I was going to involve him in such a dangerous mission."

"Of course not," Elise said. "I'm not suggesting that you should. He doesn't need a team leader anyway. He needs a mom."

Elise could see Sarah trying to blink back the tears. "Look," she said softly. "Sarah, everybody knows how much you love Bryce. That's not in question. Deep down, he knows it too. But maybe you should consider something. Let's face it - all three of the kids are pretty smart. They see things and draw conclusions that other people might not see. Kate is simply brilliant. Sparky is a true genius. But Bryce is clearly the smartest of the three. We've always known that since he was five. He's the most mature sixteen-year-old I've ever met. But he's not a happy person. You think that he's off pouting about some petty thing. And that's where you're just plain stupid. He's not pouting. He's sad and he's lonely and he has zero self-esteem. He's performed an extensive internal analysis of the situation and has come to the entirely logical conclusion that the person he admires most in the world simply doesn't approve of him. That, given the qualities in people that you clearly admire, he just doesn't measure up in your heart to men like Alex and Sparky. You've done nothing but reinforce that. Given your behavior, I'm not sure what other conclusion you would expect him to come to."

Sarah just stared straight ahead as she tried to blink back the tears.

"That's not all," Elise continued. "Bryce is a truly brilliant guy. It's not going to take him long at all to figure out that the only way to truly get the approval from you that he so desperately wants is by risking his life being a hero – like Alex and Sparky just did. And once he figures that out – he is going to find a way to try and do it. And then…"

"He's going to come home in a box," Sarah finished the thought as she fought unsuccessfully to keep the tears from streaming down her face. "That's what you're saying."

"He's going to come home in a box," Elise agreed softly. "I'm sorry to say it like that. But yes, like they all do eventually. The good ones last a while longer. But they all do. Those are the odds. I'm afraid so."

Sarah stood for a long time trying to gather her composure. "You're right," she finally said, her voice just over a whisper. "About a lot of things. Sweetie, please help me. I need to fix this - tonight."

But to Sarah's surprise – Elise smiled. "Just what do you think I've been doing here?" she asked. "Do you think that I enjoy getting pissed at you? You understand the problem now. I'm confident that you'll fix it. After all, Bryce is brilliant – but he's mistaken. He's taken some facts and misinterpreted them. All you have to do is show him that."

"But how?" Sarah asked.

Elise wrapped her arms around Sarah. "Do I have to do everything?" she asked with a laugh. "I'm going to go say goodnight to the newlyweds, grab your husband, and spend the rest of the night getting him sloppy drunk and giving back all of the money that he won today. It will be just like the last time we were in Vegas undercover. Remember when you were so worried that the Intersect 2.0 was going to make him jump me?"

"I do remember," Sarah said. "Like it was yesterday. You got in the Jacuzzi in your invisible bra."

"I'll stay mostly dressed tonight," Elise said with a grin. "We call it half of an undercover wedding. You go grab your son and spend the rest of the night being his mom. We'll compare notes in the morning. I bet we'll both have a good time."

"Okay," Sarah said with her own smile. "In the morning then."

"Not too early," Elise said. "I'll be hung over."

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah stepped into the room, Bryce was in the very same position as earlier this afternoon. He was lying on the bed on his back with his laptop on his chest. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Bryce was clearly startled out of deeply concentrating about something – because he jumped. "I'm not pouting," he said quickly. "I'm just working on something."

Sarah was on the edge of being emotional – but Bryce's reaction made her smile. "What are you working on?" she asked.

Bryce's face showed his surprise. For a second he didn't know how to respond. "Umm, I'm working on a computer simulation of my proposed speech recognition circuit," he said. "I'm having a problem with it generating too much heat. I have to figure out…"

Sarah grinned – and held up her hand to stop him. "The question was rhetorical," she said. "Enough work for tonight. This is supposed to be a celebration. Change into some comfortable clothes. We're going out."

"Out," Bryce asked. "Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure yet," Sarah said. "Dress warm. It's a bit nippy outside. Take a jacket. I'll get changed and meet you in the living room in five."

Bryce was clearly apprehensive when he saw Sarah come out of her bedroom dressed in a dark pair of stretch pants and a hooded sweatshirt. "Umm," he said nervously. "Why did you leave the party? Am I in more trouble?"

"We're going back down to the party," Sarah said with a smile. "Just for a second. We need to tell our newlyweds that they're on their own for the rest of the night. Are you in trouble? I'm not sure yet. Maybe we can find some trouble – together."

"I can't get into the party," Bryce said. "They kicked me out."

Sarah took a long time to gather her composure. "I promise that I'm not going to cry in front of you tonight." she finally said. "Sweetie, I'm sorry about a lot of things - but I'm especially very sorry that happened."

Now poor Bryce was totally confused. "Why would you cry?" he asked.

Sarah took another long moment to blink away the tears that were building. "I let you down," she finally said. "I was busy and wasn't paying attention. But that's no excuse. I should have been there for you. I'm ashamed of myself that I wasn't. I'm especially ashamed that you ever think that you have to stay out of my way. Your dad and I are going to have a very serious chat about that tomorrow. If I had been aware of what was happening, I would have set this guy straight at the time. So let's go see if we can find that trouble you were looking for."

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