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

Can Sarah fix things with Bryce? Can Chuck and Elise actually have a fun evening without an adventure?

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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Mama's Boy

x-x-x-x-x

The club in the newest hotel on the Strip was currently the chic in place to be for all of the beautiful people. It had been since it opened a few months ago. But especially today - since The President himself had just been there. There was a line to get in that stretched around the entire hotel. Being the manager of that club was one of the most sought after positions in the entire city. It had taken an exhaustive interview process to get the job. But the poor guy was currently wishing that he had his old job back. Because Sarah had him backed up against the wall – and was giving him an earful.

"No," Sarah said forcefully – like only Sarah could. "I am most definitely not happy. Let me tell you something about this young man that you just humiliated. Not only is he the brother of one of the brides and one of the grooms, he is a key member of the team that the President himself came here today to honor. He risked his life to protect this country – including you. And you treat him like this? That, quite frankly, makes me furious. It makes me want to get back at your somehow. I'm sure that the press would be most interested in how you treat our national heroes."

The manager knew that he was treading on very thin ice. She might look like a pretty blond housewife but like most of the country he had watched her devastate Daniel Shaw on live television. And right now, she looked more pissed than she had then. "Ma'am," he said as the beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. "Please. You're absolutely right. It never should have happened. We have a policy but we clearly could have made an exception for this circumstance. I sincerely apologize. What can I do to make this right?"

"For one thing," Sarah said. "I'm not the one who you should be apologizing to."

The manager turned to Bryce. "Sir," he said. "I'm very sorry for any embarrassment or inconvenience that we've caused you. Please accept these two tickets to our stage show as a token of our appreciation for your service to the country. It's the hottest show in the city."

Bryce reached out his hand to take the tickets – but Sarah interrupted him. "He'll need four tickets," she said. "They would make great wedding presents from him to our newlyweds. I assume that they're for tomorrow night. After all, this is their wedding night." Then she turned to Bryce – with a twinkle. "Would that make you feel better sweetie?"

The manager paused. "Yes ma'am," he finally said. "I think I can come up with four tickets for tomorrow night. Would that end this?"

"Of course, they would be in the front row, center stage," Sarah said with a sigh. "I guess that would work. Is that okay with you, sweetie?"

Since Bryce wasn't sure what his mom wanted him to say, he could only nod his head.

The manager sighed. "Thank you, sir," he said. "I'll have someone bring you the tickets right away. It will take me a few minutes."

"We're going inside," Sarah said dismissively. "Bryce has to dance with his sister and his new sister. Then we're leaving. Have the tickets brought to him inside."

"Yes, ma'am," the manager said as he turned to leave. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Wow," Bryce said. "Those tickets cost almost three hundred dollars apiece. That's over a thousand dollars."

"If you could buy them," Sarah growled. "They have been sold out for months. I tried to get some tickets as a wedding present because I heard Alex saying that he wanted to go. This is going to cause him some serious inconvenience. But he got off easy. He made me look bad – to the last person in the whole world who I wanted to look bad to."

"Who's that?" Bryce asked. "The President?"

Sarah smiled. "No, sweetie," she said. "I couldn't care less about the President. I didn't even vote for him. The last person that I wanted to look bad to – is you. I was already doing a great job of that myself. I didn't need his help. Let's go say goodbye to the newlyweds. Then we'll go see if we can turn that trend around."

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce was dancing with Kate. Well, you could call it dancing. Bryce was about Alex's level when it came to dancing. Kate had just found out about Bryce being asked to leave. And she was just as furious. "It's okay," Bryce said soothingly. "Mom already took care of it. I was actually feeling sorry for the poor guy. Mom had him sweating so bad – he probably needs to go change his shirt."

Kate wasn't completely satisfied. "It shouldn't have happened," she said. "But thank you for the tickets. Alex is completely freaked out. He was trying to buy tickets – but they are sold out for like a month. What did Heather say?"

"She kissed me," Bryce groaned as his face turned red. "In front of everybody. I think that she might be a little drunk."

"Well," Kate said – as soon as she could stop laughing. "Don't worry. I won't kiss you. Where are you and Mom going anyway?"

"I have no idea," Bryce said. "Mom is being totally weird. What is up with her?"

Kate pulled back a little and smiled at her brother. "I think Mom just realizes that she hasn't spent much time with you," she said. "Sparky and I got a chance to get closer to her in the past week. I think that maybe she wants to get to know you a little better. Take her up on it. You'll be glad that you did."

"Mom scares me," Bryce said. "I know that sounds horrible. And I would never tell her. But… Did you see what she did to that Shaw guy? It makes my elbow hurt just thinking about it. The commentators were getting sick on television describing it."

"I know," Kate said. "I was standing right there. Trust me. That Shaw guy got what he had coming. Mom is just… intense. It's just the way that she is. Come on, sweetie, you've always known that. But she would walk through fire for you, Bryce. Dad would too, in his own way."

"I'm really going to miss you," Bryce said with a grin. "Now that you're an old married woman. It was nice having you home again for a while."

"I'll be back soon," Kate said with her own laugh. "Now that the campaign is starting, we'll be traveling a lot. Trust me, we need to carry California. And, Bryce – I may be an old married woman – but I'm still your big sister. I'm really going to miss you too."

Bryce wiped his face. "I thought that you said that you wouldn't kiss me," he said with a groan.

Kate grinned at him. "I know," she said. "I lied."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah led Bryce out to the hotel parking garage. She was carrying a big stick of some kind. It almost looked like a baseball bat. "Where are we going?" Bryce asked.

"I thought that we'd go for a little drive," Sarah said as she finally stopped. "Do you recognize this?"

"Oh my God," Bryce said. "How did your car get here?"

"Colonel Blum had it shipped here," Sarah said. "Remember when you promised me that you wouldn't drive this car?"

"Mom," Bryce said nervously. "I'm sorry."

"Sweetie, stop," Sarah said. "I'm not mad at you. If you hadn't broke your promise we'd all be dead. How could you possibly think that I'd be mad at you? Tell me, Bryce. Why do you think that I made you promise me that you wouldn't drive the car in the first place?"

Bryce just looked at his mom for a long moment. "I don't know," he finally said. "I imagine because you didn't want me to wreck it."

Sarah took her bat and swung it into the rear quarter panel of the car. It made a huge boom – and left an even bigger dent. "Nope," she said. "You're not even close. It disappoints me that such a brilliant guy as you would even think that. You see, Bryce. This is a machine. We'll take it to the shop next week, and they'll fix it good as new. Do you really think that I love this car?"

Bryce couldn't tear his eyes off the huge dent. So he just nodded – in shock.

"I used to," Sarah said. "Long before you were born, there was a time in my life when I loved it. Do you know what they call it when people love inanimate objects?"

Bryce tried to shake himself out of his daze. "Not really," he said, still clearly in shock. "I haven't studied much Physiology. I think it might be a form of Transference. Do you want me to look it up?"

Sarah smiled. "That's okay," she said.

Bryce held up his phone. "I can," he said. "It will only take a minute."

Sarah grinned. "Sweetie," she said. "Put your phone away. The question was rhetorical. What it really is - is pathetic. I loved a machine because it couldn't love me back. And that meant that it couldn't stop loving me back. But then I met your dad – and I realized that there were people who I could love and not risk them destroying me. So, I don't love this car, Bryce. I admire its engineering. I enjoy driving it. But I don't love it. Not even close. What I love is you. And you have it exactly backwards. I was never worried that you would wreck the car. That's silly. Even if you did, it's insured. We'd just get a new one. I was afraid that the car would wreck you. I was worried that there is too much power here for someone who is not an experienced driver. And I can't replace you, sweetie. I knew that this car was a huge temptation for a sixteen-year-old boy. So I scared you. I blatantly manipulated you. That was selfish and incredibly wrong of me. You told me that you wouldn't touch it. I should have believed you. You have never given me any reason to doubt your word." At this point, Sarah had to pause for a long moment to gather her composure. "I'm not going to cry," she finally continued. "I promised myself. Anyway, I'm sorry that I did that. I just couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to you. But what it's done to you wasn't worth it. So, I'm very sorry that I scared you."

Bryce really didn't know what to do. Mom was clearly emotional – more emotional than he had ever seen her. "Mom," he said. "It's okay."

"It's not okay," Sarah said. "It's made you afraid of me. Admit it."

Bryce just stared at her for a long moment.

"Seriously," Sarah said. "It's okay. I want you to admit it. You're afraid of me."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Bryce finally said, his voice no more than a whisper.

"Tell me the truth, damn it," Sarah said loudly.

"Okay,' Bryce yelled. "Yes. I'm sorry. It sounds horrible. But sometimes you scare me. You get mad at me – and I'm not sure why. Like right now."

"I know," Sarah said sadly as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "It not only sounds horrible. It is horrible. I've made my son afraid of me. That's the worst thing I can imagine. Maybe we can work on that tonight. It just breaks my heart to think that you're afraid of me. I'm intense. We all know that. But I would never hurt you, Bryce. In fact, you're the very last person in the whole world I would hurt. I would tear anybody apart with my bare hands who tried to hurt you. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at me. Anyway, sweetie, let's go for a ride. I have something that I want to show you."

Bryce watched in stunned silence as Sarah opened the passenger door and climbed inside. Really having no choice, he finally got into the driver's seat. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Of course," Sarah said with the beginnings of a smile. "The car's ruined anyway. We might as well finish it off. But, sweetie, please be careful on the Strip. There is going to be a lot of traffic."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah gave Bryce directions until they were finally on a dark gravel road – well outside of the city. She had him pull off the road in front of a deserted warehouse. The building was clearly in serious disrepair. Sarah smiled at Bryce in the darkened car. "You're really an excellent driver," she said. "You're much better than your dad. He rides the clutch. I yell at him about it all the time. It drives me crazy. It was silly of me to have worried about you. You look like you've been driving this car for years."

"Thanks," Bryce said. It was silly how good that throw away compliment made him feel. "Mom, can I ask you a serious question?"

"Of course," Sarah said. "That's why we're out here. What do you want to know?"

Bryce took a deep breath. "Why are you being so hard on yourself? I mean, come on. I've been well provided for and have two loving parents with a strong support structure. Most of the State of California's recommended criteria for parenting have been followed. All of the socio-economic indicators seem to be well within the normal range. All of my test scores would seem to indicate a well balanced upbringing."

Sarah smiled at her son. "You read a lot, don't you?" she asked. "Most of the criteria have been followed? What hasn't been?"

Bryce noticeably blushed. "Weapons in the home," he said. "The State recommends that there be no weapons stored in the home. But don't worry. My latest physiological evaluation was in line with that of a normal teen. I'd say that you're doing a pretty good job."

"How do you know what was in your latest physiological evaluation?" Sarah asked with a grin.

"Actually," Bryce said. "Those records are stored on the school computers. Their security system was only a sixty-four bit based cryptographic protocol algorithm. It was fairly easy to… umm… I'm in trouble, right?"

"Well," Sarah said with an even bigger grin. "I'm not crazy about the idea of you hacking into private school computers. For one thing, it's a crime. Let's agree that you won't ever do it again. Deal?"

"Yes, ma'am," Bryce said.

"The answer to your question is pretty complex," Sarah said. "Sure – by all the measurable statistics that the State of California puts out, I'm doing okay. But truthfully, I can't take any credit for your test scores – they are all you. Besides, I don't measure myself against the State's criteria. Okay was never good enough for me. The fact of the matter is that I want to do better. You deserve better. I want to make sure that you know that you're not only loved – you're appreciated – valued – cherished. I'll admit that I was annoyed with you this morning. Some of that was deserved – but a lot of it was unfair. I want you to know that even when I'm annoyed with you, you never have to worry about winning my approval – or my love. And I've dropped that ball pretty seriously lately. Does that answer your question?"

Bryce nodded. "Where are we?" he asked.

"This is a very important landmark in our family history," Sarah said. "And especially for you. You see, you're named after a man. The man who - sort of, in a way - introduced your dad and me. His name was Bryce Larkin. This is where he was killed." Sarah got a flashlight out of the glove box and got out of the car. "Are you coming?" she finally asked with a grin.

"Mom," Bryce said nervously as he slowly got out of the car. "Are we really going inside that building? This is a natural habitat for rattlesnakes. And although they are mostly dormant at this temperature…"

"Come on," Sarah said with a grin as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "If a rattlesnake bites you, I'll cut your leg and suck out the poison."

"Great," Bryce said. "That makes me feel so much better."

Sarah laughed for a long moment. "Bryce Larkin was your dad's roommate at Stanford," she finally said. "He also was a CIA agent. And he was my… umm… partner for about a year." Once they were inside the building, Sarah pointed the flashlight towards the office. He was captured and tortured to death in that room. The bastard that did it taped it and sent it to us. When Bryce was dying, he gave us the clue that finally helped us catch him. I think you've heard the story of Elise losing half a lung? That happened here too – right about where we're standing."

Bryce nodded. Then he realized that it was dark. "Yes," he said. "Sparky told me all about it. Uncle Casey told him the story. He said that you received your third Presidential commendation for this mission. It's the most that any agent has ever received. That no agent outside of your team has more than one. He told me that you single-handedly saved Europe from being nuked. You're one of the biggest heroes the country has ever had."

Sarah smiled at the pride in Bryce's voice. "That was a long time ago," she said. "It was way before I met your dad. And it wasn't as glamorous as you're making it sound. I promise that I'll tell you the whole story someday – soon - but not tonight. I have some other things I want to accomplish tonight. What else did your brother tell you?"

"He said that you were the top CIA agent in the world," he said. "And that's why we needed to cut you some slack. We had to share you with the world. Mom, I've never said this to you – but you need to know how proud I am."

Sarah's smile turned into a grin. "Thanks," she said. "You're wrong about one thing. You don't have to share me with the world. You dad is actually more famous than I am. I've been lucky. And actually, if the current President wasn't such a dickhead, I'd probably get a forth commendation. And you would get your first."

Me?" Bryce said in amazement. "What did I do?"

"Let's see," Sarah said. "How about evading Ring agents who were pursuing you to get word of the plot to General Beckman. Oh, and leading the assault that saved Agent Walter's life. And who could forget coordinating the communication for the counter attack on Red Mountain that saved five lives – including mine? If it wasn't for you, the Ring would have won. Bryce, you're a national hero – just like your name sake. I had every intention of introducing you to the President this afternoon as part of the team. I'm so sorry that I didn't. Things just got crazy and I forgot. That was unforgivable. You are a huge part of the team. You had just a big a role in this as anybody – just as big as Alex or your brother. You deserve just as much of the credit."

Bryce needed to change the subject. "You hesitated when you described your relationship with Bryce Larkin," he said. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

Sarah paused for a long moment. "Yes," she finally said. "It's hard to get anything past you, isn't it? We lived together for a few months. Can we please make a pact tonight? I'll never ask you about any girls that you sleep with and please don't ask me about any men in my past, do we have a deal?"

"Deal," Bryce said with a relieved laugh. "Hopefully, someday I'll actually have something to not tell you. Did you love him?"

"I'm glad that you asked that," Sarah said. "And that's exactly why I brought you out here tonight. My feelings for Bryce are sort of like the car. I admired his spy skills. He was a great partner. So that substituted for love for a while."

"He sounds like a huge hero," Bryce said.

"I guess," Sarah said. "In a way. A lot of people would think so. He dedicated his life to the greater good. I happen to think you're a bigger hero."

Bryce was stunned. "Me?" he said. "Why would you say that?"

"Bryce Larkin never allowed himself to love anybody," Sarah said. "He was, in fact, a coward. He threw his life away doing dangerous things so he wouldn't have to face making himself vulnerable to another person. I know that because I was once exactly like him. You, on the other hand, have a life worth living – but when it was required, you risked it anyway. You're the bigger hero. Because you risked losing something. Bryce didn't. He really had nothing to lose."

"But so did Sparky and Alex," Bryce protested.

"Of course," Sarah said. "But don't mistake admiring someone with loving them. I love Alex. But I wanted to kick his ass when he took an unnecessary risk. Ask him about it. I was pissed at him. I still am. Can you imagine the scene if I lost you, sweetie? Can you imagine me having to go to your funeral? Can you picture me sitting there when they were burying you, knowing that I would never see you again? That would be worse than dying myself. Bryce, listen to me. If you don't hear anything else I say tonight – hear this. You owe it to me… Bryce, you absolutely owe it to me and everyone else who loves you to do everything that you possibly can to make sure that I never have to go through that. Do you understand?"

Bryce nodded.

"Bryce Larkin didn't care," Sarah said. "That's why I can't say that I loved him. It's when I met your dad that I finally discovered what it felt like to truly love someone."

"So dad was your first love?" Bryce asked with a grin.

"My only love," Sarah said with her own grin. "I know that sounds corny – but it's true."

"It doesn't sound corny," Bryce said. "Well, maybe a little. But it also sounds… nice."

"So here's the moral," Sarah said. "I love your brother and Alex. I do. I know that you do too. And I'm proud of them – just like I'm sure that you are. I'll even admit - I fawned over them a bit in the past couple of weeks. But Bryce, I'm not one bit more proud of them than I am of you. I don't love them one bit more than I do you. I screwed up. I let myself get busy and ignored you and what you needed. I'm ready to start fawning over you. I'm sorry if I've made you question any of that."

Bryce put his arms around her. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry too. You know that I love you too – very, very much. You're my mom."

"You had to go and say that, didn't you?" Sarah said as she grabbed him and began to sob. "After I promised myself. Sweetie, you have nothing to be sorry about. I haven't been acting like your mom lately. That's going to change."

Bryce held on tight.

"Look," Sarah said. "There's something else. I'm sorry that things didn't work out with that girl this morning. I know that you're probably not ever going to be comfortable talking to me about girls. That's okay. I promise that there will be other chances. I may be a tad biased – but you're an amazing catch. And I'm sorry that my decision cost you a chance with her today. But that doesn't mean that I'm sorry about not letting you go to the Strip. I'm still going to be your mom. I'll still make some decisions that you're not going to agree with. And I still demand to be obeyed. But understand, sweetie. My decisions are because I love you and I'm trying to protect you - not because I don't trust you."

Bryce just nodded as they continued to hold each other. "I thought that you said that you weren't going to cry?" Bryce finally asked.

"I know," Sarah said as she clung to Bryce between the sobs. "It looks like I lied."

After a long couple of minutes, Sarah finally stirred – and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Let's get out of this depressing place," she said. "I'm really glad we had this talk tonight. Maybe it cleared the air. I hope that you know that you never have to be afraid of me. Now let's go back to civilization and have some fun. Do you mind if I drive back? It's been a long time since I've driven the car – and besides."

Bryce looked at his mom quizzingly.

Sarah's grin lit up the dark room. "I promised you some trouble," she said.

"Speaking of trouble," Bryce said with a laugh. "Aunt Elise wants to teach me how to talk to girls. Do you think I should let her?"

"Well, sweetie," Sarah said with a grin. "As your mom, that's a tough one. Elise is a freaking genius. There is no question about that. But I'm also sure that I'm not going to want to hear the things that she is going to teach you. So I'd say only let her if you want to have something to not tell me."

Bryce grinned at his mom. "Actually," he said. "This might be bordering on creepy territory – but that's something that I wouldn't mind so much."

x-x-x-x-x