Chuck Versus Thin Ice

By Steampunk . Chuckster

Summary: On the doorstep of the Olympics, top American curler Sarah Walker has lost her mixed doubles partner and her boyfriend in one fell swoop. Her coaches throw newbie Team U.S.A. curler Chuck Bartowski onto her team and thrust them into the Olympics, hanging America's curling hopes on two people who only have a short amount of time to learn to trust one another.

A/N: We're doing this so fast, oh man. I gotta get these chapters out bam bam bam bam bam bam. BAM. So anyway, I'm really excited about this chapter. It's been a long time coming and I hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own this show. I don't own the characters in this show.

She slipped out of Chuck's bed earlier than usual, careful not to wake him as she changed into her exercise clothes, grabbed her bag, and snuck out to the gym.

She found herself unable to get back to sleep again once she was awake, even with her boyfriend's warmth pressed up against her side, even knowing how early it was.

In eleven hours, her team had a playoff to determine if they got to go to the gold medal match. It wasn't that she was nervous, per se. But she definitely felt like she had a lot on her shoulders. She did, specifically. And she didn't want to let the team down, or her coaches. She didn't want to let Chuck down, either.

Even though she absolutely knew that he would never be disappointed in her for anything that happened on the curling ice, even at this level. But she also knew he wanted all of this for her. He wanted that gold for her. And she didn't want to let him down.

It was silly.

She really didn't want to let herself down, either. But more often than not, lately, Chuck tended to be at the forefront of her thoughts. What he thought of her, especially. Maybe because she thought so much of him.

Sarah purposefully kept her workout nice and easy, going for a stroll on the treadmill with some soft, beachy music in her ear to beautifully contrast the Winter Wonderland outside of the nearby window.

She let her mind wander. Because she still hadn't told Chuck that Jane knew they were dating and she felt guilty about it. She and Jane had a text fest about it again last night. And Chuck had been a few feet away, on his own bed, catching up on Facebook with all of his friends. She'd felt a little wicked texting about him while he was so close by. But she'd only said good things about him, so maybe it was okay.

Was it imperative for her to tell Chuck, though? Because she could just not say anything, and when they got back to San Jose after the games and the relationship went public anyway, he'd never know Jane was aware of their relationship before that.

But what if Jane slipped accidentally? Chuck would have every reason to be upset with her. She felt like a hypocrite, since the secrecy part of their romance was her idea in the first place.

Jane was Jane, though. After what she'd done to help Chuck through his panic attack the other day, he had to be okay with her knowing, right? He had to know she could be trusted.

She finally stopped the treadmill after a half hour of interval training, then grabbed a towel and wiped her face, neck, and shoulders, heading towards her bag. But as she turned, she caught sight of Ellie Bartowski stretching on the mats across the room, her earbuds in as she spread her legs in front of her and leaned her torso down, reaching forward and flattening her chest against the mat.

Sarah felt a big smile spread over her face as she shrugged her sweatshirt on and moved through the various machines to approach Chuck's sister. "Ellie!"

The other woman lifted her head and turned with a curious frown on her face. But when she saw Sarah, her green eyes brightened and she beamed, pulling her earbuds out and climbing to her feet. "Sarah! Hi!"

They hugged briefly, sharing self-deprecating smiles at the sweaty state they were both in.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked. "I mean, working out…obviously." Ellie giggled as she rolled her eyes, shifting her weight a bit shyly. "I just mean, you know, you live over there…" She waved in the general direction of where she knew the hotel where the alpine athletes had been housed, miles away from the Olympic Village.

"Oh, yeah. Well, Devon's roommates have promotional crap back in Park City and their events are over, so they blasted out of here early and, my events are over, too, so I'm staying in Devon's place now. It's not as spacious or nice, and there's no jacuzzi tub—"

"What?!"

"Yep! It's insane over there." They shared a laugh. "But I like being close to my family and friends over here, you know? And with my husband. Finally."

Sarah nodded emphatically. "Makes perfect sense to me. Where is Awes—Devon?" she corrected quickly, wincing.

"You corrected yourself, which I appreciate as much as I would've appreciated you saying his real name in the first place," Ellie giggled good-naturedly.

"Spending way too much time with your brother," she tried lamely, but there was a glint in Ellie's eye as she said it, and the woman quickly answered her question after a slight clearing of her throat.

"But, uh, Devon went out to hit the slopes early." Sarah must've made a confused face because Ellie rolled her eyes. "I know. His events are over. He's just a freaking nutcase. It's something I've had to get used to being married to him. He's always in some doorway doing pull-ups."

Sarah laughed.

"Congrats on last night, though, Sarah," the brunette said, grabbing her shoulder and squeezing. "You were curling like a total beast out there. All of you were."

"Thank you! Yeah, it felt pretty good."

"First playoff tonight, right?"

"Yep."

"Good luck. I mean, I'll be there watching. Obviously. But I'll say good luck now, too. Just 'cause."

"Thanks, Ellie…" Sarah shuffled her feet a bit, tugging on the towel around her neck with both hands.

"Hey, I just finished my work-out," the other woman said, then. "Want to grab breakfast? Or have you eaten?"

"Oh. Yeah. That sounds nice. I like eating."

Ellie chuckled. "Good. Uh, let me just grab my stuff and we can head over."

That was how fifteen minutes later, she sat side by side with Chuck's sister, alpine skier and gold medalist in both the giant slalom and the slalom events, at a round table in a mostly empty cafeteria.

She took a small bite out of a piece of bacon and sipped her coffee, trying to pretend the silence was comfortable. But it felt like Ellie was trying to come up with a way to start a conversation, and Sarah was trying to do the same thing, and the air was a little tense with it.

Ellie was Chuck's sister. She liked her a lot. But she was also so damn impressive and cool. She was an Olympic gold medalist for God's sake. And she also had a medical degree from UCLA. Yes, Sarah had finally looked Ellie up on Wikipedia. It was part of her research once she and Chuck started dating. She just wanted to know more about his people so that she could…Well, get in good with them. And in spite of Ellie being so warm and genuinely welcoming and kind to everyone—except Morgan sometimes—Sarah was slightly intimidated, she had to admit. This woman was the real deal, and more than anything, the fact that Chuck loved his sister and seemed to look up to her as much as he did also made Sarah feel like she really had to tiptoe. She needed Ellie to really like her. She felt it in her bones.

"You usually wake up this early?" Sarah found herself asking. What the hell? I'm a loser… She inwardly rolled her eyes. What kind of a question was that?

"Yes." Ellie huffed. "Back in the day, I was able to sleep in. But with all these years of med school and training and then more med school and more training, the mornings were really the only time I could really…do things. Ya know? Get stuff done for myself. So I learned to wake up really early, and even on days off, on vacations, I'm awake at six AM."

Sarah nodded and widened her eyes. "I get you. I mean, I love sleeping in, I'll be honest. Sorry. I'm really good at it. Just…not so much today. I was up at five blinking up at the ceiling for an hour. Even though the bed was extra cozy and warm, I just couldn't sleep."

"Ahhh." Ellie seemed to be holding back, almost, biting her lip, purposefully looking down at her plate and shoving food into her mouth quickly. "Nervous about tonight, huh?"

Shaking herself a little, she shrugged, brushing the strange look Ellie'd just had on her face out of her mind. "Can I be totally honest with you?"

"Of course."

"Yes. I am. I am so nervous. Which is funny, because I was just silently telling myself in the gym that I was not nervous at all. But that's a total lie. I'm crazy nervous." She shook her head and snorted self-deprecatingly.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, but hey, we're at the Olympics. If you're not nervous when you're here, I think you're either a liar, or a little stupid."

That made Sarah laugh. "You might be right about that."

"I know I am. I was terrified before my events. I had to put snow down the back of my neck at one point because I was ready to have a nervous breakdown when I was two skiers away from my first race of the games." She scoffed. "But after four years of working so freaking hard to be here, and being one of the older competitors here, too, not to mention the fact that I got fourth in Sochi—fourth, Sarah—I had so much pressure on me. All the interviews, the crazy TV promos for the Olympics that involved me, the specials about me and the constant barrage of crap like, 'She just missed the podium in Sochi' over and over and over and over…" Ellie rolled her eyes and huffed, taking a frustrated bite out of her muffin. "Felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders."

"Me, too!" Sarah exclaimed, turning to face her. "God, all this shit with Bryce and the seemingly half-assed decision the federation made to make this newbie curler that I barely knew and who'd been randomly pulled onto the team a few months earlier into my partner at the Olympics…" She realized how that sounded and quickly reached out to put a hand on Ellie's forearm. "I mean, that's how it looked to-to the outside world, you know? That's all they freaking talked about. I was more than willing to give Chuck a chance. He was so quick to agree to it, and he was immediately working so so so hard in training and everything. That wasn't how I saw him." She winced.

Ellie just chuckled. "It's okay, Sarah. I get it. Chuck still is a newbie. The guy didn't even know this sport existed 'til he saw you in Chicago two years ago. I mean that tournament you were in."

Sarah did a double take. "What?"

"I mean, before that, getting him out of the house meant picking up his comic books at his local shop or driving through In-N-Out for a double double and a milkshake. He didn't go out for anything else but those two things. By the time we got back from Chicago, he already had one foot in a curling club in Echo Park. It was such a quick decision. Like, they really just tossed him at you, and you're right, he hasn't been playing for very long at all. So I get why you'd be a little tentative about accepting my brother as your partner with open arms." Ellie cleared her throat and pushed her hair behind her ear. "So to speak."

All she could do was stare at Chuck's sister as the woman took a bite out of her muffin as though she hadn't said anything at all. She struggled to find her voice, but finally did.

"Um, what was that about Chicago? A tournament I was in…?"

Ellie's eyes went wide and she turned to look at Sarah, her face suddenly white as a sheet. And then she went almost fuchsia just as quickly. Sarah also noticed there was a cinnamon crumb at the corner of the other woman's mouth. It fell off and onto her lap as she swallowed. "Oh…Oh God. No. Wait. No, no, no."

Sarah leaned away a little, her eyes also wide. "Wh—Uh…?"

"I just assumed. I'm so stupid, oh my God. I don't know why he would tell you that. Why would he ever tell you that? Now that I'm thinking about it, it makes him sound—Oh God, shut up, Ellie." She covered her mouth and winced.

"Tell me? Tell me what?"

The poor woman looked like she was full of regret, and she looked insanely embarrassed, too. "I'm sorry. It's not for me to tell. It wasn't my—It isn't my story. It's Chuck's. And I can't tell it when I don't…" She huffed. "I mean, it's…I've already royally fucked up. Dear God, I feel terrible."

"I'm so confused. You said a tournament I was in, and it was in Chicago. …I didn't know Chuck two years ago, Ellie."

"No, I know. Of course you didn't." She let out a frustrated growl and put a hand to her forehead. "I thought since you two are…partners, you know? And in close quarters. I thought he'd tell you about that. It seemed important, like something he would've told you. But now that I'm thinking about the way it'd sound, of course he wouldn't tell you that. I mean, I'm his sister so I know he's not that kind of person. That kind of guy. But you might not."

"What kind of person? What kind of guy?" Sarah asked, finding she was verging on desperate to get a clear answer. "What is this, Ellie?"

Ellie huffed then, looking so terribly mortified and she pushed the rest of her food away. "Look, Chuck's already going to murder me as it is, so it probably wouldn't make much difference if I just explained the whole thing. But you deserve to hear it all from him. And he deserves the chance to tell you. It's his experience, and you're his partner. I'm sorry." She took Sarah's hand and squeezed. "I feel so bad. I'm terrible. I'm so so sorry. Ugh."

Sarah chuckled, feeling deep inside of her this powerful need to reassure and comfort Ellie. She could see the woman was genuinely upset. Apparently she'd told Sarah something she'd assumed Chuck would've already told her. And she could tell how bad the other woman felt about it. "Ellie, it's okay. I'm not gonna be mad at you. I don't even have to bring it up to him if you don't want me to."

"Really?" She leaned in, hope in her green eyes. "You'd do that for me? Just forget I said those things?"

Sarah shrugged, but she couldn't help the wince. "I'd try."

And then the other woman sniffed in amusement. "I love how honest that was. You're sweet, Sarah. Very sweet. And I like you an awful lot, you know that? I think that's probably why I just blabbed like that. I talk a lot around people I really like. Filter be gone. I mean, not as bad as Chuck. Never as bad as Chuck." Sarah snorted quietly. "But God, I'm usually such a good secret keeper. I just totally fucked up. I wouldn't blame Chuck if he hated me for this."

"Is it really that bad?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me anymore questions about it, though. Just in case. Ask him. I'll take the consequences for my actions. But definitely talk to him."

Sarah laughed. "If you're sure."

"Yes. The Horrible Sister Guillotine awaits me in the near future, though. At least I got two gold medals before meeting my fate at the hands of an incredibly embarrassed brother." She dropped her face in her hands and Sarah reached up to rub the brunette's back. "Remember me well, World," she droned miserably.

"It'll be fine. I'll protect you from him." When Ellie peeked up at her over her hands, Sarah gave her a cocky shrug. "I could kick his ass. Easy."

The other woman laughed, throwing her head back. "I bet you could. He's beefed up in the last two months, but he's still such a lanky beanpole."

Sarah found herself smiling in affection as she said, "He is." She missed the significant, genuinely happy, long look Ellie gave her then, as she moved the food around on her plate. "And if it makes you feel better, here's something Chuck doesn't know probably. I gave up a lucrative career as a martial arts instructor to move to San Jose and be a professional curler for the U.S. Federation."

The other woman's eyebrows went to her hairline, and then she shrugged, grinning. "I was surprised to hear that at first, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Of course you're a martial artist, because you weren't already bad ass enough." She laughed and shook her head as Sarah blushed.

But she could see that Chuck's sister looked pleased about her revelation. Maybe giving her a little piece of information about herself eased the brunette's embarrassment a tad? She hoped so.

As Ellie asked her more about her prior job, Sarah found she was a little distracted, not noticeably so. But she couldn't stop thinking back to the times she'd been to Chicago, trying to piece together the information Ellie had apparently not meant to give her.

And damn the woman for being such a good sister and not telling her what in the hell she was talking about.

The second she got back to her apartment, she'd ask Chuck. She'd get to the bottom of this. Whatever this was.

-oooo-

He awoke to the sound of a soft recognizable voice coming from the bathroom and a smile immediately spread over his face, even before he was fully cognizant of his surroundings and before he opened his eyes.

Chuck recognized the song after hearing her hum for a good twenty seconds, and the smile turned into a grin. She was humming the first song they'd danced to the other night. Her voice was beautiful, melodious, and a little deeper than he might've expected had he thought much about what her singing voice might sound like.

Then he heard the bathroom door open and he turned over to watch her emerge, scrubbing at her wet hair with an extra towel and wrapped up in a floor-length robe. She'd stopped humming, probably to keep from waking him up, but as he pushed himself up onto his elbows to watch her cross the room to her suitcase, she must've caught his movement out of the corner of her eye because stalled halfway there and slowly turned on her heel to face him.

She didn't say anything, just smiling a little.

"Mornin'," he chirped. "Got up early for a shower, huh?"

A look of amusement swept across her gorgeous face as she finished the journey to her suitcase and flipped the lid open to rummage through for clean clothes to put on. She faced away from him and opened up the robe to slip her underwear on under it, and in spite of not being able to see anything because of the robe, he flopped onto his back again and stared at the ceiling to give her privacy.

"I guess you could say that," she said over her shoulder. He could hear the swishing of soft fabric sweeping over her silky soft skin and he covered his face with his hands, biting his lip. "But there was the gym before that, and then breakfast with Ellie."

Chuck sat all the way up this time, feeling something nice dancing in his chest, like a sweet little flutter around his heart. "My sister Ellie? That one?"

She giggled and turned to face him again, slipping the robe back over her arms to cover the bra and underwear she'd put on, tying the sash again and crossing to stand at the end of his bed, her hands on her hips. "I don't know any other Ellie."

"Did you two plan th—Wait, it's barely after eight in the morning!" he said, having turned to look at the bedside clock halfway through his sentence. "You went to the gym and ate breakfast and showered already?"

"Mhm. I was having trouble getting back to sleep once I woke up earlier—yes, before you ask, it was nerves about tonight but I'll be fine—and I decided to go to the gym to work it off. I saw Ellie and we decided to grab a bite to eat together." She shrugged.

"It's barely after eight. How early did you get up?"

"Early."

"You're crazy, but at the same time, I find your willpower super hot, sooo…" She beamed, shaking her head at him. "But yeah, Ellie's moved into Awesome's room now that both of his roommates split for Utah."

"She told me," Sarah said, and then she got a bit of her look on her face, biting her lip tentatively, before she climbed onto the end of his bed and crawled over to sit where she'd slept the night before, her legs folded underneath her, hands resting on her thighs. "Chuck, she, um, she also said something else. Well, sort of. She more hinted at it. I actually want to ask you about it."

Chuck felt an unpleasant tingle go through him as he sat up a bit straighter, facing Sarah better. "What'd she say? Or, erm, hint at?"

"That's the thing, I don't know." He furrowed his brow in confusion. "That is to say, I-I tried to ask her what she was talking about and she kind of freaked and got all embarrassed and upset and regretful that she'd said it in the first place."

"That is…weird. Well, then…what was it about?" The unpleasant tingle didn't go away. In fact it got worse.

"She told me she couldn't tell me anything else, that it was your experience to tell, and to ask you." She shrugged, looking incredibly curious and confused. He already had a dreaded feeling he knew what Ellie had talked about, especially after the conversation they'd had the night before during the women's game. But then Sarah confirmed his dread. "Something about Chicago two years ago, and a tournament I was in."

Chuck immediately buried his face in his hands and melodramatically tipped onto his side, just lying there and letting out a long groan. This was the woooorrrst. This was the worst damn thing. Why in the hell would Ellie tell Sarah about that, of all things? She could tell her anything else. Like when she was eight and he was four and she'd persuaded him to lick his carseat on the way to the mall by saying it would taste like anything he wanted it to, and he'd been so ready for chocolate and instead got a bitter dirt taste that made him gag. God, he could still feel that taste on his tongue twenty-three years later.

No, instead she had to tell his brand new girlfriend the one thing that would make it sound like he'd stalked her for two freaking years.

"Is she actively trying to ruin my life?" he whined, turning his face into the sheets and groaning again.

"Hey…" Her hand twisted in his shirt and she turned him just enough so that he'd have to look her in the face. "She refused to tell me what this is all about, Chuck. And I've had to wait for an insufferable amount of time not knowing this morning. So if you'd just tell me, please, I'd appreciate it."

He sighed long and hard, then put on the most pained, reluctant face he was capable of. "Sarah, you don't understand. It's going to sound really bad."

"Can you just let me be the judge of that and tell me, though?"

"Will you promise to let me explain before you run out of here screaming for the police?"

She arched an eyebrow and tilted her head. "It's as serious as that, huh? Well, Chuck…rest assured, I know about you stealing someone's room key, sneaking into their room, hacking into their electronics, and sabotaging their job. That definitely wasn't legal and I didn't run out screaming for the police, you nerd. Think you can trust me to sta—"

"Fine," he interrupted, huffing and pushing himself to sit up in front of her. "I'm going to tell you but just know how much it freaking pains me to do so." He gazed at her through his eyelashes, purposely trying to make himself look pitiful.

"I'll get over it. Tell me."

He gave her a flat look as she giggled, but then she reached up to tenderly cup his jaw in her hand. "Tell me, Chuck."

Chuck pushed his hands through his hair and sighed. "Remember how I told you about that bonspiel Ellie got me a wristband for in Illinois a year after my accident?" Her eyes flicked to the side as she thought for a moment, then she looked back at him and nodded. "I thought it was gonna be so lame, seriously. Like I didn't even know what curling was but I was like whatever, you know? Better than a whole weekend of getting bruises from all the play fighting Awesome's brothers kept dragging me into. That family's insane." She giggled.

"Sorry. I digress. Um, so Ellie and I went the first day but she was more interested in peeking over at the speed skating next door so I was just kinda there watching this sport I completely did not understand. Like, I didn't get a single thing about it. And, um, and then I spotted someone down there." He kept his eyes fastened on her hands that were folded in her lap, purposefully not meeting her gaze. "One of the players on a women's team. First thing I noticed was that she was wicked hot. Like, gorgeous." Sarah's fingers moved a bit against each other. "And even though I didn't get the game at all, I could tell she was kicking ass. People were cheering and she looked happy about her shots and stuff, you know? Whenever she threw well. And then as the game went on, it was less that she was beautiful and super fit, and more that she had this air of confidence and intelligence as she pushed the stone thingy down the ice into the target thingy to hit other stone thingies."

She snorted softly, her fingers still twisting together in her lap. Did she know? Did she already know he was talking about her and she was just letting him continue anyway? Crap, this sucked. He was going to make Ellie do his taxes for the rest of his life for this.

"And as the day went on, I kind of found myself gravitating around the stands to follow wherever her team played because I wanted to watch. She was just…spellbinding, I guess. This little girl sitting next to me probably picked up on me being totally confused and filled me in on some of it…and I sort of got the basic gist after that and could generally figure out what was going on with the match…"

Chuck cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, I gushed to Ellie about the girl—er, woman—and the actual game, for basically the entire trip back to the Woodcombs'. And I brought Morgan the next day, having spent, like, all night watching Youtube videos about it and reading rules and brushing up on terms. And man, I was on top of it the next day, explaining stuff to Morgan. And she was there again, so I obviously was rooting for her team. And there was just this calculated consistency. Seriously, it was just so magical, the way she sliced rocks through teeny tiny ports and just massacred the opposing team taking two stones out, with the perfect roll, it was just…It was invigorating. I was freaking moved, Sarah," he said, almost getting caught up in the emotions of that day even now, to the point that he finally lifted his gaze to hers. She had a mask over her face, though. He couldn't read her.

But he'd already come this far.

"And there was this moment when her shoe slipped a little on the ice and she landed right on her ass, but she was so cute about it. With this stunning smile. She just brushed herself off, laughed with the spectators, and won the whole damn match."

Sarah dropped the mask at that, her shoulders lowering a bit as she took a long, silent breath in. "It's very rare that I fall like that," she said so quietly it was nearly a whisper. "Especially in the professional bonspiels."

"Well, ya did that day," he responded almost as quietly. "The blond-haired, blue-eyed curling warrior queen I'd been rooting for those two days was human…and it somehow made me like her that much more."

"Chicago," she breathed. "The Two-Thousand-and-Sixteen Midwest National Bonspiel. I remember it. My team—"

"Came in first. Yep. The end of the third day was when you got your trophy. It's in our Curling Centre now."

Sarah clasped her hands together in a praying gesture almost and then pressed the tips of her fingers to her mouth, letting out a soft huff of…disbelief, maybe? "You were there? Seriously?"

Chuck nodded. "Yep. That was the trip that changed everything for me, too. The bonspiel that pulled me into curling." He cleared his throat and blushed. "The reason I didn't want to tell you is because I sound…sort of like a creeper. But it wasn't creepy or anything like that. You just pulled me in with what you were doing. Like, I don't think you understand how hard it is for a person to take their eyes off you anyway, but God, when you're out on the ice…You were so good. And it was so analytical…kinda like chess but your body is more active—not your body, I-I meant your in the general sense like…all of us." He winced and blushed hard. "I wasn't fixated on your body or anything. Not that it's not a—you have a wonderful body. But it was the curling. Ahem."

She still seemed a little stunned by his admission, pushing her hand through her damp hair and taking another deep breath. "I can't believe it. I can't believe you were there two years ago, and-and everything that's happened since."

"It's all because of you, Sarah Walker." She seemed a bit floored by that, not knowing what to say. "If you hadn't unknowingly been the blue-eyed, insanely beautiful sorceress who brought me under curling's spell, I would've had three days of some boring sport I couldn't figure out and…" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I dunno where I'd be now. If I'd still be on my sister's couch trying to get over everything three years later, depressed…Curling pulled me out of all of that. And I wouldn't have given a shit about curling if-if you weren't there, Sarah."

He looked right into her eyes then. "I should've said something to you when Becks first recruited me onto the team six months ago. Maybe not a creepy fanboy fawning over you situation, obviously. But just that I remembered seeing you play in that bonspiel. I dunno. Something. But I guess I was just really scared to overstep, you know? As the new guy. And, um, there was Bryce. Figured he'd hate me at best, kick my ass at worst, if I said anything to you about it."

"Chuck, I-I don't know what to say. I really don't."

He gave a quick, crooked, melancholy smile and let it fade again. "You don't have to say anything. Just please don't think I'm some creeper fan who was super obsessed with you for two years. I was not angling to get onto this team, it wasn't even on my radar, you know? I messed around with my buddies in local bonspiels in SoCal. And then to get to train in the same facilities as you…it was so cool, but also daunting because…" He couldn't help melting a little when he looked at her, a dreamy smile stretching slowly over his lips. "…You're so cool. Warrior queen."

She giggled through her nose, and there it was: that amazing beaming smile of hers that honestly made him feel weak. It was bullshit they put in movies until it had happened to him with Sarah Walker.

"God, you're such a huge nerd."

"Guilty as charged."

"It's better than Ice Queen, though."

He smiled, and cleared his throat then. "I hope this doesn't change stuff here. I mean with us. I wish I'd told you sooner. And it wasn't like I had a big ol' poster of you posing with a curling broom on your shoulder for two years or anything weird like that. I just caught some of your matches when they were online and silently rooted for ya." He shrugged one shoulder and pressed his lips together. "It was the least I could do when you basically helped me pick my broken soul up, brush it off, and throw it into this crazy sport. This crazy sport that's pretty much given me everything."

"You just…you never said anything to me about it. In six months. I mean, I was right there. In the same building. On the same team." Sarah tilted her head then. "Sort of."

"Yeah, I know. I was an idiot for not mentioning it. 'Cause now we're together romantic-stylez and I still didn't say anything and it's been a long enough time that it's super awkward now and feels like this totally sordid obsession that I've been hiding from you."

Her eyes widened. "I wasn't really gonna go there, you friggin' weirdo."

"Are we still together? I mean, do you think I'm a creepy stalker?"

Sarah gaped at him for a moment and then she just threw her head back with a laugh, pressing a hand to her chest until the laughter died down a bit. "I don't think you're a stalker, Chuck. This is crazy in that I never in my wildest dreams imagined something like this would happen." She paused then. "I paid almost no attention to you whatsoever for four months. Like, I barely said a handful of words to you most weeks. And here you were…"

She pressed her fingers to her lips and blushed a little. "I'm about to sound full of myself, but did you…I mean, all that time, did you have any…sort of…erm, crush on me?"

"Of course I did. The second I met you and you were even nicer than I hoped, and smarter, and so much prettier up close, and so fuckin' fierce that Jeffster didn't mess with you as much as they did with me even…and I'm not a woman." She giggled, her eyes so bright, her smile even brighter. "Of course I had a crush on you. War—"

"Warrior queen," she finished with him, smiling affectionately. "I can't help thinking about what might've been different if I'd paid more attention. If I had known you better, there's a good chance I would've dumped Larkin's ass."

"For me?" he asked, and he laughed.

She grabbed the front of his shirt, her fist twisted in it, and she pointed with her other hand. "Hey. Don't laugh at that. I would've done it." Then she let his shirt go and sighed. "Four months and you never tried to spend more time with me or talk to me…you never hit on me, or flirted, or made a move on me in all that time you had a crush on me?"

"No. I told you, I was—Well, I happen to respect the sanctity of a relationship. You don't move on someone who's with another person already. It's messed up, and it has bad joojoo written all over it. And I didn't think you'd ever give me the time of day honestly. Even if you didn't happen to have a model for a boyfriend. I just never thought that a girl like you would ever go for a guy like me."

"I think maybe you're just an incredibly good man. And you need to know that if you had told me all of this, how watching me compete in that bonspiel got you out of your depression and into curling, in those exact words you just used…if you'd told me four months ago, I would've melted."

A dubious look fell over his face. "Really? Even though you didn't know me and you were with Bryce at the time?"

She scoffed. "By that point in our relationship, Bryce reserved his charm for everyone but me. There wasn't much there. Okay, maybe I wouldn't have mauled your face off on the spot or anything like that," she admitted, rolling her eyes, "but I definitely wouldn't have thought you were a creep, and I would've been interested in getting to know you better. I'm not the cheating type."

"I didn't think you were." He paused, feeling silly for needing to ask yet another time, and wincing again as he did. "We're okay, though, right? You aren't gonna get a restraining order on me now that you know I was a Walker fanboy? Well, technically, am."

Sarah laughed, then lunged at him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly. "We're okay," she said, and he melted in her arms with relief. "Did you seriously think I'd be freaked out enough that I'd stop this?"

"I was pretty sure you wouldn't be."

"I'm okay with you being a criminal hacker, so it follows that I'd be okay with you being a creepy fanboy." Chuck laughed at that as she gave him a teasing squeeze, pulling back to boop him on the nose with his finger. "Just kidding." She sobered up then and slid her hands to his shoulders and then up to cup his face. "Seriously, though, Chuck. I'm so glad I was at that bonspiel in Chicago two years ago. I'm glad you were there, too. This sport would be so boring without a Chuck Bartowski in it." She smiled softly. "You know, I saved you back then…but you've saved me, too. Here. At these Olympics. You've given me my curling groove back. I feel so much freer out there on the ice, and it's carried over from our event to this one now, too."

"How Sarah Got Her Groove Back."

She laughed and hugged him again. He eased back until he was lying down with her clinging to him, draped over him, and he was so comfortable, so happy, feeling like nothing in the world could interrupt this great moment between them…

"Chuck, do you think Ellie knows about us?"

Oh.

…Oh.

-oooo-

"He knows."

Jane jumped a bit as Sarah slid up behind her. The two women stood side by side, waiting for Anna and Lou to buy their coffees before they headed over to meet Beckman for an hour before their first playoff match. Against fourth ranked Canada. They beat them in the tournament opener, but there was no way that team could be counted out, not with Taneesha Philips skipping for them.

"What do you mean by that?" Jane asked. "That's a cryptic-ass comment to make at my shoulder when I don't even see you there."

Sarah laughed. "Sorry. I meant Chuck. He knows that you know."

Her friend's eyebrows popped as she turned to look at her. "You told him that I guessed it, though, right? Because I sort of did."

"Jane, I told you. All that work you were doing behind-the-scenes to pave the way for us, and all the time we were actually dating…I just felt sorry for you." She laughed as she got play-shoved by the older woman. "But I told him."

"He mad about it?"

She smirked, picturing the face he'd made when she told him yesterday. His eyes had gotten all big, his lips pressed together, and then he just barked out a laugh. They'd both been freaking out about who they'd told, afraid to bring it up to one another, and it was just ridiculous. But Sarah had seen the signs of it on Ellie's face before, the little eyebrow raises, the way she'd pull her lips between her teeth, basically vibrating with barely suppressed glee. Poor Ellie, having to keep all of that inside. But she knew now that she not only had Chuck's sister's approval, the two-time gold medalist had apparently been floored by the knowledge that they were dating. Sarah took what Chuck said about his sister's response with a grain of salt, though. She couldn't imagine Ellie had been shocked by the fact that a woman like her would date a guy like Chuck. Maybe other factors could've gone into the alpine skier's shock, but if there was any other woman in the world besides her who understood just how good of a man Chuck Bartowski was, it was his big sister who'd fought at his side since he was born. Those were the words he'd used yesterday. I couldn't lie to her once she asked me outright. I hate lying to her. She's my sister. She fought at my side since the day I was born.

"He's not mad, no. Especially since he told his sister finally. The other day."

Jane just laughed. "Oh my God, he didn't. And you were freakin' out over him knowing about me."

"I know."

"You're both such freakin' dorks."

"I know." Sarah giggled. "Well, technically, both Ellie and Devon know. Devon was how Ellie found out." When her friend gave her a questioning look, she glanced over at the café line and saw there were still a few people ahead of their teammates, so she cast her gaze back to Jane. "Remember that night I told you about, when Chuck freaked me the hell out by falling out of his bed and hitting his head on the nightstand?"

"Mhm." Then a mischievous look came over her face. "Or was it your bed he fell out of? Get too frisky for our favorite nerd, Sar?"

"He had a nightmare!" she snapped under her breath. "Anyway, Devon went through the bedroom to the bathroom to wet a cloth." Jane didn't seem to pick up on it as Sarah paused dramatically. "He went through the bedroom…"

"Oh, shit, you two were in the same bed."

"We were in the same bed."

"And he saw the other one wasn't being uuuuuused. Ooohh!" Jane laughed. "And y'all thought you were so slick this whole time."

Sarah gave her friend a sardonic look and crossed her arms. "Yeah, well…I thought Chuck might have a concussion or something and I was rattled and didn't think about it. So sue me."

Jane just continued laughing until the other two came back with their coffees.

When the foursome arrived at the entrance to the Curling Centre, press was there waiting for them. Thankfully, they were respectful, asking only a few short questions before letting them be on their way.

But then Chuck was there with Ellie, Morgan, and Devon. They were loitering near the door that led to the prep room. Chuck looked a little uncomfortable, and Ellie seemed like she was chewing at the bit. She could only imagine what had happened. Chuck probably wanted to go right to their seats and Ellie probably wanted to see Sarah. Just like she'd told Jane about that conversation from the day before, he'd probably told his sister, as well. It seemed she and Chuck were pretty consistently on the same wavelength.

He almost looked apologetic when he caught sight of her, then.

And Ellie closed the distance quick, wrapping her up in a hug. Sarah giggled, hugging Ellie back and trying to send Chuck a reassuring look over his sister's shoulder. But Jane had already high-fived him and was talking to him in low tones.

"I need you to know that I was actually dying a little yesterday trying not to let you see I knew," Ellie muttered close to Sarah's ear.

"I could sort of tell, in hindsight," Sarah replied, her voice equally quiet. When they pulled back, she sniffed in amusement at the older woman's wince. "It's okay, Ellie. I, um, don't blame him. I really can't since…"

"Oh, I know. Jane. I'm glad." She sighed then. And hugged Sarah for a second time. "I'm just really happy and I want you to know that." Sarah suddenly felt a lot more emotional than she'd expected, and she had to steel herself to keep her eyes from misting. God, she really liked this woman. A lot. And it felt so good to know she had her approval. Nobody was more protective of Chuck than his big sister. Granted, she felt the pressure to not screw this up even more now. It was a lot of pressure.

But then Chuck finally broke off from Jane, looking almost a little bit shaken up, jittery as he pried his sister away from his girlfriend. "Ellie, they've got to go in and win this match now."

"Oh. Right. It was a good luck hug!" she chirped, giving Sarah a humorous look, like they were sharing an inside joke. She went through and hugged the other women then, Sarah noticed, and almost as if she was covering her bases, she gave Jane, Lou, and Anna very long, very tight hugs.

When they got into the prep room, Anna said, "Jesus! She nearly popped my back. Chuck's sister is friendly."

"Maybe she was trying to get that gold medal winner feeling to rub off onto us. In which case, I appreciate any help we can get," Lou responded, shaking her head as she changed into her curling shoes. "Did you see how bad Taneesha wrecked Russia last night? Ten to two. Scored five in her last shot. She probably still has pieces of 'em in her teeth."

Jane snorted. "She pulls shots like that out of nowhere. That's why we need to be on our guard…literally for you, Lou. We need to be perfect. All the way down the line. And you?" She turned and pointed at Sarah. "We need that Ice Queen today."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You know they call me that because they think I'm a frosty bitch, right?"

"Own it," Anna said. "There's nothing wrong with frosty bitches. People leave us alone and we get more done. No distractions by stupid people. It's the only way to live."

The other three shared wide-eyed, amused looks, but none of them felt it would be in their best interest to dispute her ideology, it seemed.

"I've got the game plan," Sarah reassured them. "We've got this. We just have to be calculated."

The attendant came in then to lead them out onto the ice.

Sarah was standing closest to Lou and the other woman turned and offered her hand for a quick high-five. When Sarah met it with a dull thump because of their gloves, Lou let out a quick, snapped, "Fierce!"

And they walked out onto the ice in a single file line.

The first playoff of the women's curling tournament was underway. United States versus Canada. And it would be a battle for the ages.

A/N: Oh, you know I had to wait to show you the playoff match for the next chapter. CAHM AHHHNNN!

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-SC