Episode 3x03
A/N Okay, so the writers got away with their version of episode 2. Episode 3 should have gone like this...if I owned Chuck, which I don't.
Sarah cursed silently for about the three hundredth time that night. This was bad. Everything that could go wrong on a mission just did. Chuck took out the wrong guy. Okay, technically not his fault, the intel was wrong. He got them kicked out of the banquet. Sarah sighed. Unforeseen circumstances, not Chuck's fault either. The dancing bit was genius. And the dancing itself was... Focus Sarah! Casey has been captured. Devon and his stupid awesomeness. Okay, okay, he was just trying to help. Who knows what they were doing to the 'Angel of Death' right now. The premier was unprotected and the assassin was still on the loose. She needed to contact Beckman immediately. She cursed herself again. She should have taken her own car. Devon was driving like her grandmother. And she was sitting way too close to Chuck. At least he ignored her for the past half an hour, staring out his window. Sarah did the same. This was definitely not good for their 'friend' cover. Hopefully Ellie hadn't noticed. She was already suspicious given their little talk earlier. Ellie believed she still had feelings for Chuck. Luckily for now she seemed to be still in awe of her husband, the hero. And the heroic Captain Awesome just stopped in front of their apartment building. What the hell?
"Uhm, honey, we forgot to drop Sarah off," Ellie stated the obvious.
Devon looked at Sarah sheepishly. "Sorry. You were so quiet back there and I guess I was a little preoccupied." He wasn't the only one.
"It's okay," Sarah plastered on a fake smile. "I'm sure Chuck wouldn't mind taking me back to my place." This was actually good. They needed to get to Castle asap. "Chuck?" Sarah touched his shoulder lightly when he didn't respond. Chuck jerked upright.
"Wha...oh...sorry. I kinda fell asleep." They just screwed up the mission and he was sleeping? She shot him a look. He returned it with one that said 'don't kill me, bad for the cover'.
"No worries," Devon interrupted. "Why don't you and Ellie get some shut eye and I'll take Sarah to her hotel. You can barely keep your eyes open, bro. And you sweetheart," Devon leaned over to give his wife a quick kiss, "have the early shift tomorrow. I'll be back in no time." This was not sitting well with Sarah. She needed to get to Beckman. Plus she'd never been alone with Devon before and it made her a bit uncomfortable. What would they even talk about?
Sarah was snapped out of her reverie when her door suddenly opened. "You're riding shotgun," Chuck answered her somewhat confused look as he helped her out of the car. He held the passenger door open for her. They stood awkwardly for a moment. They had to sell the cover. She couldn't just get in the car and wave. They're supposed to be closer than that. She couldn't kiss him. They were not supposed to be that close. They weren't. Chuck saved the situation by pulling her in for a quick hug. Sarah cursed again. She was supposed to be over this. Over him. He wasn't supposed to make her feel this way. He left her. He broke her heart. Her anger dissipated when she saw the video from the vault, but she had no idea how to deal with this situation. She should talk to him, but she was never good at expressing her feelings. What if he did it again? Her dad left. So did her mom. Bryce. Everyone she ever cared about left her. She couldn't go through that again. Good thing she had her job to focus on. Right, the job. Focus, agent Walker. She needed to save her partner.
"See you tomorrow? How about lunch?" Sarah knew it wasn't a real invitation. He was selling the cover.
"Sure," she answered as sweetly as she could and got in the car. Let the awkwardness continue.
[A/N Section break]
"You didn't need to walk me to my door, Chuck," Ellie giggled. "We are practically neighbours."
Chuck gave her his trademark grin. "What can I say? My sister raised me to be a gentleman." Ellie punched him lightly in the shoulder.
"Well, you turned out great," she teased back. Then she turned serious. "She's not over you, you know."
"El, don't." He was not in the mood to come up with a why-Sarah-and-I-are-not-together-anymore-lie right now. He had to get to Castle and come up with a plan to save Casey.
"Look, Chuck, I didn't interfere with you and Jill...much, but Sarah...Sarah is special. She's the one. I know it and you it. You have to fight for her. You have to do whatever it takes. You're a Bartowski. Start acting like one." Ellie slammed the door behind her before Chuck could respond. Then it was quickly opened again. "Good night, Chuck."
Chuck was speechless. It wasn't like Ellie to have mood swings. Maybe she was...? Nah. Was she? No time to ponder that point. Casey was in trouble. When this mission was over, he'd decide what to do about Sarah. Maybe Ellie was right. He could give it another shot, right? What's the worst that could happen? Sarah could shoot him down. Again. He's should be used to that by now. As long as she didn't actually shoot him, he'd be fine. Eventually. Focus, agent Carmichael. He needed to save his partner.
[A/N Section break]
"Do you mind taking me to the Orange Orange instead?" Sarah asked as Devon pulled out of the parking lot. She could contact Beckman and use the Crown Vic Casey left there when he took the surveillance van. She would just have to make sure she doesn't scratch it or something. Not that she was afraid of Casey, but rather safe than sorry.
"I knew it!" Devon exclaimed enthusiastically. "You do have a secret base!" What? Shit! That was probably the worst slip up in her career. She needed to get her head on straight. This thing with Chuck was really screwing with her. "It's top secret, okay, Devon. I shouldn't have told you that."
"Got it. So this whole spy thing...I guess it's not all it's cracked up to be."
"What do you mean?" Devon thought it was awesome before.
"Living a double life must be hard. Not to mention having to pretend to be in love with someone for three years. That must be excruciating." Sarah let out a silent sigh. She and Chuck didn't actually have to pretend. The being in love part was easy. Not being able to do something about it was excruciating. Every time she had to tell Chuck that she didn't feel the same way or that it would be unprofessional to be together, it ripped her heart to pieces. Seeing the hurt in his eyes when all she wanted to do was kiss him senseless – that was beyond excruciating. And now that it was allowed, they somehow managed to screw it up completely.
"I always wondered how you two managed not to fall for each other, but I suppose it all makes sense really," Devon continued when Sarah said nothing.
Sarah shifted in her seat. "I'm not following." She didn't want to hear this, but she couldn't help being curious.
"Well," Devon stalled for a moment, "you aren't exactly Chuck's type." Sarah felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Devon didn't think Chuck could fall for her? She knew she did some really bad things in the past, but Devon didn't know that. And Chuck always said it didn't matter. "For one thing, I think he prefers brunettes." Devon stole a glance in Sarah's direction.
Sarah's eyes widened a little. Chuck dumped Lou after that kiss at the docks. And he detained Jill for trying to kill her. That must mean something, right?
"And it's not hard to figure out why you never fell for him. I mean, look at you. Why would you ever go for a nerd like him? Don't get me wrong, I love the guy like a little brother, but, spy stuff aside, he's a bit of a loser."
That definitely got Sarah's attention. "He's not! And if you ever say that again, I'll..." She stopped herself. Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Here we are," Devon announced before Sarah could think of something to say to salvage the situation.
She turned in her seat to face him. "Look, Devon, it's been a long night and I'm worried about Casey. Right now I need to focus on getting him out of there. Let's just forget this conversation ever happened, okay? And for the record, Chuck and I are just friends."
"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry I screwed up the mission. That was not awesome." He looked really remorseful.
"It wasn't your fault. We can fix this. Thanks for the ride," Sarah replied quickly as she got out of the car.
Devon pulled away from the Orange Orange with a huge grin on his face. It's like he told Sarah's ex, if there was one thing he knew, it was the human heart. Sarah was totally in love with Chuck. Awesome!
[A/N Section break]
"So how did it go?" Ellie put her book down when Devon slipped in between the sheets.
"Totally awesome, babe. Mission Charah is in play." He leaned over and gave her a kiss.
"Mission Charah?" Ellie raised an eyebrow. He can be so dorky sometimes.
"Yeah, you know. Chuck. Sarah. Charah."
Ellie let out a laugh. "I got that part. But 'mission'? Seriously? Please tell me Chuck didn't coax you into playing Call of Duty with him?" One nerd she could handle, but that was her limit.
Shoot, not awesome. "No, no, I'm not into video games, babe...I...uhm...I watched Spies like us the other night..and...uhm..." Lying to Ellie was really hard. He had new respect for Chuck, in a weird way. Lucky for Devon he was saved by his cell phone.
[A/N Section break]
"I can't believe General Beckman wants us to do nothing! It's Casey..." Chuck was pacing.
"Just calm down, Chuck. We'll think of something." Sarah was in full agent mode now. After giving herself a few mental slaps.
"You mean defy orders?" This was not like Sarah. No, this was just like Sarah. She committed treason for him not too long ago. They should really talk once this was over.
Before Sarah could respond, Chuck's phone rang.
[A/N Section break – this is where Devon told them about the plan and they went in, rescued Casey, took the bullet out, saved the premier...you get the picture.]
Chuck closed the ambulance doors after the paramedics have loaded Casey. Good thing he was still unconscious. Who knows what he would do to Chuck once he found out he stole his blood to save the former stinking comi despot. Chuck shuddered at the thought. When the ambulance departed, Chuck made his way back to Sarah who was waiting at the gates of the embassy.
He took off his lab coat and held it out to her. Her eyebrows shot up. "The guards are ogling you," he whispered. Not to mention what the really short nurse's uniform was doing to his heart rate.
"Jealous?" Sarah didn't take the coat from him.
"Just protecting your modesty." Chuck hung the coat around her shoulders, keeping his arm there to prevent her from shrugging it off. She could be so damn stubborn sometimes. Please don't break my arm.
"It's not your job to protect my anything." Sarah was adamant to keep her resolve. It was hard when he was standing this close. She'll just enjoy it for one more minute before she...
"Actually it is. I made a promise once." It was time to be a Bartowski. He motioned to the park across the street. "Let's take a walk."
They looked a bit ridiculous, Chuck in scrubs and Sarah now wearing the lab coat over her nurse's uniform. They walked in silence for a while. Chuck was the first to break the silence. "Look, Sarah, about Prague..."
"Chuck, stop. I know." They took a seat on a bench overlooking the lake.
"Oh. I just figured after you didn't say anything after my explanation at Carina's fake engagement party..."
"Actually I didn't hear it then. I was a little busy trying to save you from being poisoned and getting shot by Carl's thugs."
"Yeah, of course. I mean, we were on a mission and...how did you know then?"
"Carina gave me the surveillance footage from the vault. You blew her cover, by the way." If it wasn't for the fact that he talked Carl down and saved Carina's life, Sarah would be really ticked off about that.
Chuck winced. "I didn't realise. I guess Beckman was right, I'm not a real spy."
"If she really thought that, why would she tell you to protect me?" This didn't make any sense. It was her job to protect him. Why on earth would he be ordered to protect her? With the new intersect he could certainly defend himself, and he did save her and Casey from the ring, but his flashes were unreliable due to his emotional state.
"What?" Chuck was confused. "General Beckman never ordered me to protect you."
"You said earlier that you made a promise to protect me. If not Beckman...?"
"Oh, that. Uhm...no, it wasn't Beckman. She would never...I promised your dad. I told him I would do my best to take care of you." Chuck shifted nervously. He wasn't sure how she would react to that bit of information.
Sarah was surprised. "My dad? When?"
"I ran into him right before the cops showed up at your hotel."
Sarah sighed, remembering the conversation in her hotel room before she sent him out for 'some rocky road'. "He was convinced you loved me. That's why he put the money into your account."
"I figured as much. Your father is a very smart man." Chuck turned to face Sarah.
"What are you saying Chuck?" Sarah held her breath, not breaking eye contact. She was sure he could hear the heart racing. Maybe they had a shot at making this work after all. She'd forgiven him for Prague. How could she not? He'd forgiven her more times than she could count. She just wished she told him sooner, but she was terrified. It was a risk, trusting him with her heart. But if she was going to be miserable without him anyway, what did she have to lose by giving this a chance?
"What I've always wanted to say, Sarah." Chuck cupped the side of her face, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Before their lips touched, Sarah backed away. It took a great deal of effort.
"Then say it." He told her in the vault, but he was drugged at the time. She needed to be sure.
Chuck locked eyes with her. "I love you, Sarah." Sarah felt herself tearing up. She tried to close the gap between their lips, but his hand on her cheek held her back.
"Your turn," he whispered.
"Chuck, I..." Sarah hesitated. Not because she didn't feel it. She loved him for about three years now, but she never said it out loud. She has never said those three words to anyone before.
"It's safe. I promise." Chuck's gaze never wavered.
Sarah took a deep breath. "I love you too, Chuck." It was barely a whisper, but judging by the smile on his face, he heard her. Her hand moved to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. They finally got their chance.
A/N I know, this one is fluffy, but it is 3 am... I did my best to ensure spelling, grammar, etc is on par, but if any of you want to beta for me, give me a shout. The next update might take a few days, I should really get some studying done.