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: Get cozy, folks. Get suuuuper cozy.
Disclaimer: I don't own CHUCK, and I'm not making any money from this.
Chuck felt the buzz in his pocket as he watched Morgan pay for his granola bar at the café down in the lobby. He wedged the bag of bungeo-ppang he held underneath his armpit and reached down to grab his phone out of his pocket.
It was a text from Sarah: Where are you? Please come back.
That last part made him feel like he was kicked in the chest. "Hey, buddy. I gotta go. Sarah's back."
"Say no more, bro. Go."
And Chuck went, throwing a "Love you!" over his shoulder and hearing his best friend's "Love you back, dude!" response before he staggered towards the elevators and slipped inside just before the doors shut.
"You're Chuck Bartowski," the other American athlete in the elevator said, grinning. Chuck didn't recognize him, but he saw ski goggles around the guy's neck.
"Uh, yeah."
"Rad. Congrats on your success."
"Hey, thanks! Yeah, curling medals are kind of hard to come by."
As the door opened on Chuck's floor, the other athlete chuckled. "No, I meant Sarah Walker. But the medal's cool, too." He winked.
Chuck cleared his throat. "Oh. Um. Thank you?"
He hurried out of the elevator and moved into the hallway, leaving the skier behind. "Good talk," he mumbled to himself as he pulled his key out early so that he didn't have to fiddle with it at the door.
Chuck pushed his way into the apartment and let the door slam shut behind him, rushing into the room and looking around. She wasn't here and he figured she was probably in the bedroom, so he turned and started to make his way towards it when he found her.
Sarah sat next to the doorway to the bedroom, on the floor, leaning back against the wall, holding her knees tucked into her chest, propping her chin on top. "Hi."
Oh, no. Ooooh, no. She'd been crying. He could see the tracks of her tears on her cheeks from where he stood.
He closed the distance immediately and crawled down to sit on the floor next to her with a grunt. Dropping the bag to the side, he reached over to tenderly swipe at one of her tears with his thumb, cupping her jaw and looking into her watery eyes.
"You were right," she mumbled, her voice cracking. "I definitely shouldn't have done that interview."
Chuck scooted closer so that he was pressed against her side and he lifted his arm to drape it over her shoulders. She leaned forward a bit to make room for his arm, and then she just tipped to the side against him, rounding his torso with her arms and hugging him. He hugged her back and sighed. "I didn't say that because I thought they'd invade your privacy, the assholes. I said it because I was kind of jealous, but mostly just pissed they were putting you in that position. So…don't give me too much credit."
Sarah chuckled but he could feel the tears against his skin still as she nuzzled her face into his neck. "Nevertheless, you were still right."
"I don't know that I was, though. Not—Not that I'm excusing how they used their time, but you were right. And Zondra was right. It would've looked really bad if you'd canceled the interview, as though you did it because you didn't want to talk to your ex-partner slash boyfriend. And all that reputation stuff Zondra mentioned. So I was wrong. I was being stubborn and immature. I owe you an apology. And it's such a relief to finally get to say I'm sorry because I've been waiting to do it for hours now."
She giggled and he felt her squeeze him tighter. "I owe you an apology, too." When she pulled back a bit, she looked up into his eyes and he couldn't help but stroke another tear away from her cheek. "I didn't mean what I said, that last parting shot. I like the way you are. I like that you care what Zondra thinks of you because you know we're close, and while I don't want you to make yourself nervous over it, it's very sweet. You aren't a child. Nothing about you is childish."
Chuck made a doubtful face. "Nothing? 'Cause I meeeean…"
Sarah giggled and shook her head. "I shouldn't have snapped like that. I was upset and you were pushing and it was making me more upset. I didn't want to go to this interview anyway and you kept saying I shouldn't but I'd convinced myself to do it already and you were making me question and it was confusing and when I get confused I get angry…and now I wish I hadn't done that interview. I wish I'd listened to you."
"That's fair. I'm still glad you didn't let me get away with trying to tell you what to do."
Her smile was big and vibrant at first, but then it dimmed and the melancholy was back, and just like that there was anger instead. "Fuck that whole network for letting him do that to me. I hope they got their damn ratings they wanted."
Sarah pulled away a bit, folding her hands in her lap and letting her head fall back against the wall with a soft thump. Chuck's eyes drifted down to her hands for a moment, then went back up to her face. But he frowned, doing a double take, as he saw something peculiar about her right hand.
He reached down to pick it up in both of his hands, cradling it as he took in the bruising on her knuckles. "Sarah?"
She winced, and he wasn't sure if it was from pain, or in anticipation of the question she thought he might ask.
"Do your knuckles look like this because they made contact with someone's face?" She winced again and nodded slowly, looking away from him. "Would that someone happen to have a name that starts with a 'B' and ends with a 'ryce'?"
"Um. Yes."
Chuck's eyes popped, his heart racing. "Wait. What? Seriously? Did you deck Bryce?"
"Right in his jaw, yeah."
"Wait, before we talk about the serious part of this, I just need to know if he went down. Like, did you plant him on his ass? If so, did he kind of stagger a bit, then go down? Or was it like WHAM! …on his ass?"
Sarah bit her lip, obviously trying not to be too amused by his questioning. "The wham one."
Chuck threw both of his arms up over his head in celebration, his hands in fists. And then he pulled them back down just as fast, pushing one fist up against his mouth to try to restrain at least some of his enthusiasm. But God, he was so head over heels for this woman sitting beside him, he didn't know if he could even handle it at this moment. "Ahem. Well done, soldier."
He thrusted his hand out for her to shake, but he realized that was her bruised hand. "Oh. Yeah, I forgot. Here. Let's do this one." He took her left hand and shook it as she laughed.
But the laughter quickly turned to tears and she fell back against him, pressing her face into his shirt.
"Oh, no. Heeeyyy…" He stroked her hair. "Baby…Sarah, it's gonna be okay. I'm sure they won't do anything crazy drastic like take your medals away just because you knocked your ex on his ass. You just explain yourself to them and they'll understand. They might even hit him, too."
She giggled wetly and shook her head, pulling back to look at him, wiping at her cheeks. "No, it isn't that. He isn't gonna tell anybody I knocked his ass onto the floor. I know him. He'd rather say he walked into a door than face the embarrassment of having been knocked to the ground by a woman. He's insecure like that."
That made Chuck grin at her, in spite of the fact that she was still crying.
"No, it's…I never wanted anybody to know things like that about me. Not even the people I'm close with. And now millions of people know stuff I never wanted—" She cut herself off and pressed the tips of her fingers to her forehead, shutting her eyes tightly as she tried to will herself not to cry. It didn't work and the tears came anyway. So he just gave her a side hug, rubbing her shoulder. She sniffled and opened her eyes again, shaking her head. "I know I'm a private person, and maybe you might think I'm a little too private." He tried to deny it, but she squeezed his wrist and he took the hint, shutting up instead. "It's just that I have reasons for it. There are reasons why I don't tell shit to people. But I guess none of that matters now. It's all out there. Nobody asked. They didn't talk to my agent. They just threw everything out there and put the camera on my face. I'm a professional athlete, an Olympic athlete. I've never felt this disresp—" Her voice cut out again and she buried her face in her hands. "I'm just angry," she said, her voice muffled by her palms.
"With good reason. Have you talked to Zondra? Is there any kind of legal action you can take?"
"I talked to her the entire journey back to here from the interview. She listed all the different ways I can do some serious damage. She even has a lawyer on standby but I just…" She huffed. "It isn't going to take any of it back. The Twittersphere is flooded with the video, Bryce's voice telling them about how I lived in an LA suburb with my grandma because my dad wasn't around and my strained relationship with my mom, and that part of the interview about my mom trying to force me into college and I can't even fathom what else must've gotten out there today. This was shit that Jane didn't even know."
"So are you going to sue?"
"No."
Chuck frowned. "Why?" She gave him a bit of a funny look and he held his hands up in defensively. "I'm not telling you to sue, or not to sue. That's your decision and if you ask for advice, I'll do my best, but I'm not about that life telling you what to do anymore. I promise."
She smiled a bit and sniffed, putting her hand on his thigh and squeezing. "No, I know. You're a ridiculously good guy, Chuck. For the record." His heart swelled. "I just don't want to go through everything all over again. It's happened. I can't take it back. I can't Men in Black everyone who saw the footage with that little clicky flash thingy Will Smith uses in the movies."
"Goddddd, Sarah. Men In Black? Really? Honestly, I just—We're talking about serious things so I won't but I could kiss you."
She smirked in amusement. "Then I was successful."
He grinned, but it dimmed as she looked away from him, her face sobering up.
"I just want to move on. With my career, with you…" She threaded their hands together and looked up at him. "Keep working on things with Mom. That said, my dad can go fuck himself."
Chuck frowned. "Did he—You don't have to give me more than I already heard in the story earlier if you don't want to, but did he really just leave you with your grandma?"
She bit her lip and was silent for a long time. He just let her have as much time as she needed. And then she leaned more of her weight into him and he accepted the contact gladly. "When my parents decided to divorce, I was pretty little, but old enough that they had me decide who to live with. The responsible parent? Or the one who brought me to get ice cream while he did his…stuff he was doing, or took me on day-long road trips to help him with…his work? I mean, who would you have chosen?"
"The ice cream. Clearly."
"Right?" She pushed her hair back from her face. "It was the wrong choice. He was gone a lot for his jobs and just tossed me to his mom, my grandma. Mom resented me for what she saw as a rejection so when my grandma died and I had to live with her because my dad wasn't seen as a viable parent who could properly take care of me at that point, we definitely didn't get along. At all. So there all that is. A lot of arguments, fights, me storming out and not coming back for two days, yadda yadda." She raised her eyebrows and lifted her index finger. "Oh, and of course there was the one time she called the police because I was gone for three days and came back with a guy. He was kind of my boyfriend, kind of not. I dunno. He was in a band. I'm not saying I made good choices then, but I was an angry teen, so…anyway…"
Chuck found himself struggling not to gape at her. He was trying to accept all of this with open arms, take it all in, look at her opening up to him as the gift that it was. Because for her to be telling him all of this, she had to trust him. She had to really trust him.
And it was almost overwhelming.
"I probably shouldn't just be unloading all this shit about my past on you all at once, I'm sorry. I'm just upset. I'm pissed off and I'm upset because my dad is a low-down, dirty rat and he just…" She took a deep, steadying breath, her eyes welling up again. "He sold my story to Bryce. He sold me out. He got in contact with the network and Bryce talked to him to get all of that stuff about my childhood, and then he got paid for it. I don't know how much. To his credit I guess, Bryce wouldn't tell me."
"No, don't give that fucker credit," Chuck snapped, feeling a burning anger in his chest at that revelation. "I'd give him credit if he told your dad to stuff it and didn't do this story. Bryce isn't a real journalist. He's a God damn hack whose face and penchant for drama got him what amounts to a glorified acting gig. And he did the wrong thing. You don't do this to anyone, let alone someone you care about, even cared about past tense. Paying your dad for dirt on your past so that he can show it to millions of Americans and pass it off as a hard-knock rags to riches success story for ratings? What kind of person does that? So fuck him. He doesn't get any credit."
Sarah just stared for a moment, and then she smiled, a slow smile that reached up and made her eyes sparkle. "Sometimes you say exactly the right thing, Chuck Bartowski."
"I don't know. Sometimes I screw up royally with the things I say."
"Yeah, you do." He sent her a look that said 'Hey!' and she giggled. "It's true. Doesn't change the fact that what you just said was exactly what I needed to hear."
"I'm glad." He leaned in to kiss her temple, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm so sorry, Sarah. I'm sorry for the way the interview went, I'm sorry none of those people had the moral compass, empathy, or professionalism to tell Bryce he couldn't do what he did. And I'm sorry—I'm really sorry about your dad. What he did is…" He stopped himself. Privately, he was thinking about how good it would feel to punch her father in the throat for what he did. Selling her private information to her ex so that he could spread it to millions of people, and doing it for no other reason than to fill his pockets. But Chuck didn't know the history between Sarah and her dad. And he didn't know how much she'd appreciate him calling her father an asshole. So he changed tack. "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, I really can't. But I'm here for you. Whatever you need. Okay?"
"Okay." Her chin quivered and her nostrils flared as she resisted the urge to cry, but a tear still spilled down her cheek. She swiped it away quickly and sniffled. "Thank you, Chuck."
"I got you, partner."
She gave him a teasingly dubious look, then sniffed in amusement and rubbed her hands down to her knees and back up again.
Chuck watched her for a moment. "What are you going to do about it? About what your dad did, I mean."
"Nothing," she said after some time. "I don't know how to find him, and even if I did, what could I say? Am I gonna tell him our relationship is through, that I never wanna see him again? It'd be no different than the relationship I've already got with him, which is to say no relationship whatsoever."
He didn't know what to say to that. So he stuck with, "I'm sorry, Sarah."
She shook her head. "It's fine. I mean, it isn't fine. All of that is a dumpster fire but I can't change him and I can't change what he did to me today. All I can do is move on, and that's what I'm going to do."
"Well, I'm all for that."
Sarah smiled and leaned in to kiss him. She pulled back, quickly, then with a quiet hum. "Um, oh. There's the other thing, though. Um, don't go into the Bartowsker hashtag. Jane texted me to just stay out of it altogether. There are a lot of all caps tweets and um, other things…considering, um, what I said. Apparently it's a full-on meltdown."
She winced and he just laughed. "Noted."
"I'm sorry I did that, Chuck. I shouldn't have just announced it to the world, especially since we talked about how we were going to wait until we got back to San Jose. But Bryce did all this shit to throw me off guard and watch me squirm so I decided turnabout's fair game." She huffed in frustration. "I'm really sorry, though. I shouldn't have used our relationship as ammunition against him. I promise, it—we mean more to me than that."
Chuck shook his head. "Pfft. You kiddin' me? Use it. Smear it all up in his face. Tell everyone if it makes him look like a total loser."
"I did tell everyone. Technically." She smirked.
"Oh, that's right. Ya did." He giggled and she beamed at him for it. "Listen, I was definitely startled and…uh, erm, I had to have some awkward conversations…" Sarah winced again. "But it was all worth it to see Bryce's face. Ahem…Also you can say, 'We're really, really dating' in that same tone you used on TV with me in private anytime you want to. For the record."
That seemed to please her to no end as she laughed so hard she rocked forward. "I will make a note of that for later."
"Good." He chuckled. "But Sarah, seriously, it almost feels…I dunno, it feels like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders now that you went public with our relationship. I don't have to hide anything from Morgan."
"Right, yeah. And I won't have to deal with anymore other women trying to move in on you."
Chuck blushed vibrantly. "Uh…"
Sarah giggled and leaned in to kiss his cheek slowly. She sobered a bit and slumped back against the wall again. "I need to protect myself better."
He gave her a long look, then gently picked up her hand, cradling it and turning it so she could see her bruising knuckles. "Isn't that what this is from?"
She sniffed in amusement, rolling her head lazily towards him and smiling. "Yeah. But if I'd had my eyes open, if I went into things more carefully, trusted people less, maybe I'd…I don't know."
"Hey, none of this is your fault, Sarah. Bryce betrayed you for ratings. And your dad…" His voice faltered.
"You aren't saying it because you're sweet and thoughtful, but my dad betrayed me, too. There. I finished it for you." She sent him an appreciative look as he blushed a bit.
"Yeah. But it isn't like you had any choice in the matter."
"I did. I could've not done this whole interview."
"There'd be consequences for that, too."
"But I wouldn't have had to see Bryce again. I wouldn't have had to talk to him in front of a bunch of cameras, nor would I have had to go into that room with him. There's where I made the real mistake." She raised her eyebrows and pointed at him. "I shouldn't have let him get me alone."
Chuck swallowed slowly, careful not to show much emotion on his face. "He got you a-alone?"
"Yeah, dragged me into some conference room or something. I was trying to march out of there with whatever dignity I had left, which…wasn't much," she said sarcastically. "He grabbed me and dragged me into that room so that we could talk."
He had the gall to touch her after what he did? It made Chuck feel a burning hot rage, and he just barely was able to keep it from showing on his face, even if his ears felt incredibly warm.
"Oh."
Unfazed by his quiet tone, she huffed and shrugged. "I should've just left. But I let him get under my skin again, and that's when he told me about Dad. I made him, told him I'd strangle him with his shitty fashion tie if he didn't tell me where he got all of that information about me."
Chuck felt the anger flutter away, just like that, and he snorted softly. "You told him you'd strangle him with his tie?"
"Yeah. I did."
He found himself gazing at her dreamily now, a slow crooked smile growing on his face. "Honestly, though? At this point, I almost feel sorry for Bryce."
Sarah's head snapped in his direction, a dangerous look on her face.
"I said almost!" he rushed out, holding his hands up. "Almost! Hear me out!" She narrowed her eyes a little, but eased significantly. "He was with you for, like, three years, and he squandered it. I mean, he's so self-centered and clueless that he let you go. You. We're not talking about some run-of-the-mill Jill Roberts type of girl, and we're not talking…I dunno, literally anybody else. He let you go. I mean, whaaat a fuckin' loser." She giggled. "Not only are you the most dedicated, impressive, talented, gorgeous person I've ever met, you also punch assholes in the jaw and threaten to strangle them with their ties, and I'm just…" She giggled again as he giggled along with her. "You're amazing. And I'm so glad I've managed to do…I dunno, something right, so that I'm the one sitting here with you and not some other dude. But I guess I just…I dunno, I almost feel sorry for him. He had someone extraordinarily special and he either didn't know it, or he didn't care."
She shook her head slowly and reached up with her non-bruised hand to cup his jaw, stroking her thumb across his cheek. She didn't seem to have anything to say to that, and instead, she gave him a teasing little tug, a certain sparkle in her eye. He smiled and leaned down to meet her in a kiss, but then a giggle bubbled up from her chest out of nowhere and she pulled back, looking a little apologetic.
"What?" he chuckled.
"Nothing. I just…" She shook her head. "It's kind of funny, you talking about how you almost feel sorry for him."
"Why?"
"Because in a much nastier way, he sort of said the same thing about you when I reiterated that you and I are together."
Chuck pulled back, putting a hand on his chest dramatically as his face registered shock. "Me? He feels bad for me? First of all, I have an Olympic medal, so he can go fuck himself. Secondly, I'm the one with the high-powered, bad ass, jerk-punching girlfriend, so he can take his pity and shove it all the way up his tight sphincter."
Sarah cackled and tipped over to fall into his lap, burrowing her face against his thigh as her body shook with laughter. She eventually pushed herself to sit up and sobered a little, probably because she noticed Chuck wasn't laughing quite as hard. But seriously, what in the hell? Bryce was sorry for him? His entitlement and ego knew no bounds.
"No, he—Well, he said he isn't exactly your biggest fan, but that you seem like a nice guy, and that it's really unfair you're being used by a succubus just to make her ex-boyfriend jealous."
Chuck blinked at her. "He called you a succubus?"
"Yep!"
He winced and she pulled her chin back and looked at him through her eyelashes. "What?" she drawled, slowly.
"I just…I know he's saying that as an insult, like, poor me dating a succubus, but I'm gonna be fully honest with you, I'd kiiiinda be into that."
She laughed again and shook her head. "Goddd, you're such a nerrrrd." But then she leaned in and kissed him slowly, reaching up to play with his curls at the back of his head in that lazy, delicious way that did things to him. And when she pulled back, leaving him all the way breathless, she murmured, "I'll remember the succubus thing for later, too, just FYI."
Chuck pretended to faint right into her lap, making her laugh again.
Eventually she slowly climbed to her feet, groaning and stretching her arms up over her head. "Wanna eat food in? Just the two of us?"
"That sounds so damn good." He slowly clambered up to stand next to her, holding his back and making a displeased face as he stretched. Then he stooped and picked up the bag of Korean treats he'd bought for her. "I like that we don't have to hide our relationship anymore, but I don't really feel like facing the masses just yet."
"That was my feeling as well."
"I'll go get it," he said, "and I'll bring it back."
He handed her the bag with a wink and beamed at the dubious look she flashed him. But then as she peeked inside the bag, she gasped. "You're such a good, Chuck Bartowski."
He brushed off his shoulders and started for the door, Sarah following. "Have any preference for food?"
"Everything."
He laughed. "God, you're cute. Unfortunately, I can't afford everything, but I can promise you a lot. I'll bring back a feast fit for a gold medalist. How's that?"
"Perfect," she chuckled, grinning.
Chuck had a feeling Sarah would appreciate a bit of alone time to recuperate, find a way to get past what happened in that interview, and regroup. And he needed a bit of time to process the fact that Sarah had just opened herself up to him in a big way. They weren't even at three weeks yet and this was happening.
She kissed him as he went out the door, and anyone who passed him in the hallways or in the lobby on his way out to pick up dinner saw an idiot grin on his face.
-oooo-
Sarah Walker stared at herself in the mirror, turning first one way, then the other, smoothing her hand down the front of her blouse, picking a piece of lint off of the black leather pants she opted to bring last minute when she'd been packing for the three week trip to PyeongChang, not even knowing if she'd have an occasion to wear them.
Well, she did.
Last week's outing to the club had felt like a stopgap almost. She'd had an amazing time with her friends, but there'd been the women's event coming up and it niggled at her even while she'd had fun. She was done now. She had no more events. The closing ceremony was in just two days.
And everybody knew she and Chuck were dating.
She pulled her black blazer on over the silver, sparkly blouse and straightened the collar as she unconsciously grinned.
She could look good for her boyfriend, and she didn't have to worry about how it would look to outsiders. Let people think she was trying to impress Chuck Bartowski. They were dating.
It felt good to dress up, put extra makeup on, iron flirty waves into her long, blond hair. She dug deep into her largest suitcase and pulled black leather boots with three inch heels on them out, turning them over in her hands and grinning even harder.
It was a little silly, maybe, but she wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him when she was a few inches taller in these heels. Would it be that different? Would it be strange?
She sat down on the end of her bed and tugged the boots on, zipping them up and standing. It had been a long time since she'd worn heels and it felt good.
The bathroom door opened behind her as Chuck came out from his shower and she turned to face him with a confident smile.
"Sorry, I'm running a bit late. I took some extra time shaving and my hair is super uncooperative toni—hi-yooo." The clothes he'd had balled up in his hands slipped right out from his fingers and plopped to the ground at his feet.
Chuck had been so intent on rushing to get ready that he hadn't looked at her until a few moments after he'd come out of the bathroom. And once he did…well…He looked as though he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Thought I'd try something different from the usual jeans and Team USA polo tonight," she said, opening her arms and shrugging.
"Is-Is that leather, or?"
"My pants? Mhm." She bit her cheek to keep from laughing when his eyelids fluttered and he bit his bottom lip.
"Oh. Wow. And, um, the heels…Also leather?"
"Mmmmhm."
He gulped. "Cool. Those look like a good two, three inches."
"Three."
"H'aaahhhtchamama. That's a lotta leather. So much leather. It's just…everywhere. You look absolutely delicious." He cleared his throat. "I-I mean, sorry. I'm just seriously so attracted to you and then you wear something like this and I kind of can't breathe."
Sarah chuckled and shook her head, slowly closing the distance between them and sidling up to his front. He only wore jeans, his chest bare and a little dewy. And he thought she looked delicious? She played with the very tip of his chin between her fingers, feeling how smooth his skin was there, then running her fingers back up his jaw and down again. He really did a good job with the shave. "Well, here. I'll stand really close to you so that you can practice taking deep breaths while I'm around you. Because there's little chance I'll be leaving your side much tonight, if at all."
"Is that a promise?" He leaned down and pecked her lips. "Ooo, you're really tall in those. I don't have to stoop so much."
Sarah smiled so hard her face hurt and then she grabbed her coat, bag, and scarf. "I'll be out there watching TV when you're ready. Take your time, though, because I'm paying for a taxi to take us. It's snowing again and while these boots are made for walking, I think snow will be pushin' it."
She left the bedroom to the sound of Chuck's laughter.
It was only seven or eight minutes later when she heard his shoes scuff the floor behind the couch. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yep, let's go!"
She turned off the TV and hopped up, one arm already shoved into her coat. But then she froze, dragging her eyes up and down her man. "Okay, I'm not taking you out looking like that. Go put a nerdy t-shirt on and some jeans that aren't quite so good at emphasizing your legs. And while you're at it, lose the blazer, please, because your shoulders look too damn good in that. Where have you been hiding this outfit, Charles Irving Bartowski?" She sent him a seductive look as she put her other arm into its coat sleeve and tugged her hair out from the collar, buttoning it shut and tying the extra sash.
"Same place you've been hiding those black leather pants, Catwoman."
She made him laugh by making a sultry cat mmreeoow sound and clawing the air sexily, and as he grabbed his own coat, she silently checked him out. His dark blue jeans fit his legs and backside so nicely, the denim tucked into his lace-up leather snow boots he'd worn last time. He wore a cotton shirt with black and white horizontal stripes, and over that a black blazer. He'd even combed his damp hair. It was still all over the place but he'd tried and that was insanely cute.
She couldn't help but walk up to him as he shoved things into his pockets and surprise him by taking his face in her hands and pulling him in for another kiss. It lasted for a while, and she knew she should really call the taxi so that they didn't have to wait so long for it, but this was much more enjoyable.
And then she finally pulled back, not knowing how long had passed, and she reveled in the quiet groan she heard Chuck emit.
"I really like that I can do that out there now. In front of everyone."
Chuck did one of those slow, crooked smiles that made his nose wrinkle. "I mean, don't do it exactly like that. Not in front of other people, at least…unless there's a private room nearby. I'd take a supply closet or something in a pinch."
She laughed and brought a hand around to pinch his ass. "How's that for a pinch?"
"SCANDALOUS!"
-oooo-
Jane and Albin were already on the dance floor when they got to the bar, and Lou informed them that Anna had dragged Morgan off somewhere. She'd worn quite the stricken look while informing them, too.
Sarah didn't blame the woman even slightly. She was still so thrown off by that development.
She was enveloped by a sudden hug from behind and she just barely resisted flipping the person over her back and slamming them onto the floor in front of her, but only because Ellie stepped into view next to her.
Which meant the muscled man with his arms around her could only be Captain Awesome.
"Sarah! Sarah, I'm so happy to see you, oh my God!"
She giggled, smelling alcohol on the man. "Already?" she asked Ellie. The brunette just rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Hi, Devon. You okay there?"
"Yes! I'm so glad you're here." He let go of her and stepped around putting his hands on her shoulders. "My Chuckikins is gonna make you the happiest woman on the planet. I promise. I'm teachin' him everything I know."
He put a finger to the side of his nose and winked. Ellie had probably told him he wasn't supposed to know about them dating until everyone else had heard it in the interview. But he wasn't being subtle about it. At all.
"Uh, please don't, honey," Ellie drawled, slapping her husband's large bicep with the back of her hand a few times. But then she hip checked him to the side and went in for a tight hug. Sarah immediately hugged her back, squeezing. "He is gonna make you the happiest woman on the planet, because I'll be on your speed dial and if he ever does anything wrong, you just tell me and I'll fix him for you."
Sarah appreciated that Ellie was still pretending she'd found out about the fact they were dating along with everyone else, and that she was a lot subtler than her husband. She laughed as Chuck peeled her out of Ellie's embrace. "Okay, family, that's enough creepiness with my girlfriend, thank yooooou."
"What?" the other woman asked, shrugging defensively. "Sarah, you have to know, nothing is going to change between us now that you're dating my brother. Except that I maybe like you even more."
Sarah laughed again as Ellie winked. Then Chuck asked her if she wanted a drink.
They excused themselves to go to the bar and Chuck waved the bartender over when they got there. "What are you having? Your drinks are on my tab tonight."
"What? No!"
"Yup. I'd cover Jane's, too. But I have a feeling she's sharin' her tab with Albin tonight. Know what ahm sayin'?" He nudged her with his elbow and giggled.
"Oh my God, Chuck. Just get me a shot of tequila and some water for now."
He raised an eyebrow. "One or two shots?"
"One. I'm not trying to be like you were last week." He blushed hard, even in the dim bar lights, she could see it. And she felt the need to reassure him a bit. "Even though you were pretty friggin' cute."
Chuck laughed and ordered their drinks, handing his card over to open a tab. "Well, thank you, but I won't be doing that again. At least not here and not tonight. I had my fun. Tonight's for you, Jane, Anna, and Lou."
She grinned. "It is. And for the record, I am only letting you get my drinks because you were nice enough to let me pay for the stupidly expensive taxi ride over here."
"How expensive was it? I didn't look."
Sarah brushed off his concern as she accepted the shot of tequila and pounded it down in one graceful move, wincing a bit and sipping her glass of water. "Don't worry about it. I'm getting the ride back, too. So just stop asking questions."
He chuckled and held up his free hand in surrender, the other holding the old fashioned he'd ordered. They moved away from the bar and over to where their group had started a game of darts towards the back of the room. Sarah had to take Chuck's hand and lead him through the people on the dance floor. She was really liking whatever K-Pop they were playing tonight but she knew she would have to resist dragging Chuck onto the floor at least long enough for him to finish his first drink.
He needed to loosen up significantly before she'd get him to dance in public. She just had a feeling.
Morgan and Anna faced off first, and Anna wiped the floor with the very humbled and gracious gold medalist snowboarder. Then Chuck and Ellie played a quick game, which Chuck won just barely, in spite of Ellie shoving a napkin down the back of his shirt to try to mess with his throw.
Sarah absolutely destroyed Devon, but that was because Chuck literally had to stand behind his brother-in-law and hold onto his shoulders to make sure he stayed facing the right way when he threw the dart. He still barely hit the target with his darts. Even though Chuck tried to help Devon as much as possible during the game, when Sarah won, he lunged at her and picked her up in his arms in a celebratory hug.
She felt him start to pull away but the warmth of that tequila shot got into her system and made her feel comfortable enough to catch his face in her hands and pull him into a serious kiss.
Sarah heard Jane give a loud, "Ow owwwww!" and everyone else clapped.
"Okay, kids. Save it for later. Some of us are tryin' ta keep our alcohol down," Casey grunted from where he sat in the corner watching the goings on like the grumpy chaperone as he practically gulped Johnnie Walker Black like he was getting paid for it.
They broke apart and she glared at him over her shoulder. "Grow up, Casey."
Almost a whole hour passed by the time Sarah found herself alone at the bar, trying to get a glass of water to combat the three shots of tequila she'd taken already. The bartender gave her the ice water and she turned to go back to her friends when she found herself nearly bumping into someone's chest.
"Oh! I'm sorry," she chuckled. "Excuse me."
But as she tried to scoot around the man, she found him scooting to block her path.
Seriously? She couldn't have one damn night at a bar with her friends without this crap?
She inwardly rolled her eyes.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
He smiled and shrugged.
"I hope so. I was standing over there in the corner…" Yep, that fits. "…And I saw you here at the bar. Are you an athlete?"
The man sidled up to the bar next to her and smiled politely. There was definite interest there. He was attractive, with his dark straight hair and his equally dark eyes. But there was something infinitely flat about him, all of him. Flat was the only word for it. His smile, his pointed stare that seemed to have nothing behind it, the way he spoke to her…She knew nothing about him, but she inherently felt like she'd rather have a conversation with a box of tacks.
"Uh, yeah. I am."
"Cool, cool. Me, too. I don't know if you follow biathlon. It's kind of the boring sport."
"Oh. Cool. Did you medal?"
"No. No, the U.S. team doesn't get close to medaling in cross country or biathlon type sports. Not at all. But I improved from Sochi, so there's that."
"Good for you. Listen, I have to—"
"What do you do?"
She sighed inwardly. "Curling."
"Oh. Here I was saying biathlon is boring." He laughed and nudged her to let her know she was teasing but she just gave him an unamused stare. "No, see…that was a joke. I know curling isn't boring. I don't think you got the joke." He cleared his throat when she still didn't respond. "How'd you do? Sorry, I spent the entire three weeks training, competing, sleeping, eating. I have a hard-ass as a coach. Pardon my French."
Dear God, this guy was so lame. She almost felt something akin to pity.
"Um, I got a bronze medal and a gold medal. So that was good."
His eyes popped and he gaped a bit. "Congratulations. I had no idea I'd picked out a medalist from the crowd. I feel pretty good about that."
The guy grinned and cast his eyes up and down her body in an incredibly unsubtle way. She was just about done now. "Anyway, nice to meet you, uh…"
"Daniel. Daniel Shaw." He stuck his hand out and she shook it.
"Great. But I have to—"
"I've never seen anyone so gorgeous. Really." What a charmer. He still had a hold on her hand, but he let go when she pulled back.
"Wow. Thank you." She raised her eyebrows.
"I aim to please. Can I get you a drink or something? Cosmo? Or are you more of a girly drink type of girl? Something pink and fruity."
She was sincerely verging on gobsmacked now. "Ya know what? I'm good, thanks. I just came over here for water."
"And then I interrupted you, huh?"
"Um. Yes."
He laughed. "How 'bout a dance? I promise I'm a good dancer. You won't regret it."
"That's really nice. I just…can't." I really, really don't want to. At all.
"I can teach you how to dance if that's the problem. Used to be a dance instructor."
Well, that sounded like a lie.
"No, thank you. I know how to dance already, but that's really nice of you to offer."
Was this guy serious? Did somebody pour cement into his head and it crowded his brain out through his nose or something? Maybe it took his personality with it? Jesus Christ…
"C'monnnnn. One dance. I came out here alone tonight. Don't have a friend in the world, as it so happens," he said teasingly, gesturing around the room. "I'm alllllll alone."
He was going to stay alone, too.
"Really. I can't. Good work on the skiing and shooting, though. Keep it up."
"Wait. I don't even know your name."
"It's S-Sam. Short for Samantha."
"Like the American Girl doll."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Oookay. Thanks for…" She paused for a while. Thanks for what, exactly? "Uh, something. 'Kay, have a nice night."
She quickly moved away from him before he could say anything else, and when she finally made her way back to the group, Chuck swam through the group to slide up against his side. "Hey, who was that?"
"Oh, so you noticed!"
He gave her a flat look. "Yeah, I noticed. But I also figured you'd handle it and I didn't need to come barging over there macho status to lay my claim to you because this is two-thousand-eighteen."
She blinked at him.
"Like, seriously Chuck. Having a conversation with that guy—if you can even call it a conversation, I don't know what the hell it was—and then coming over here to you, what you just said, how you are…I'm almost startled by the contrast."
"Is that…a compliment? It's a compliment, right?"
She giggled and moved up onto her tiptoes to kiss him. "Does that answer your question?" she murmured, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really, but I enjoyed it thoroughly."
She laughed. "It's a compliment. I could've just had a conversation with a door and I'd be more interested in what it had to say than I was in what he had to say."
"Really? You sure? You don't want me to go over there and pull him into our group? Be like…"
He stalled and she laughed. "That's Daniel Shaw, biathlon non-star," she filled in for him.
"Thank you. Be like, 'Daniel, please come join us. What are your thoughts on ski length?' You don't want me to do that?"
She laughed even harder. "I will strangle you if you invite him over here. There's a reason I didn't even give him my real name."
"What?!" Chuck cracked up. "He doesn't even know who you are? All he has to do is Google you and he's gonna know who you are, that you lied to him."
"I don't give a fuck. I'm not here for him." She took a long drink of her water as Chuck snuck an arm around her waist.
"Oh yeah? Who are you here for?" he mumbled with a smirk.
"Me."
He deflated teasingly and she giggled and kissed his cheek.
They stayed in their group for a few minutes, laughing at one of Tyler's stories about the time he crowd surfed at a punk concert and somehow ended up getting dropped in front of the bathroom, which was so convenient because he hadn't even realized until that moment that he had to "take a wiz".
Sarah finished her water, waiting for Chuck to finish his second old fashioned, and she found the music in the place was starting to creep up on her. And as she glanced over her shoulder, that dance floor looked more and more inviting.
She slid an arm around Chuck's torso and moved up to mutter, "Wanna dance?" in his ear.
As she lowered back down from her toes, she shrugged invitingly and he chuckled with a nod. Without saying a word to anyone else, Sarah slipped behind her boyfriend and put her hands on his waist, guiding him out onto the dance floor. She maneuvered him somewhat into the middle of the couples and carved out a nice little bit of space for them as the music slowed down.
Perfect.
Sarah let Chuck take point, as he put a hand on her hip and picked up her other hand, stepping in close so that their chests were pressed together. She kept her free hand on his shoulder and tilted her face up to stare at him as they swayed. The music had an almost jazzy sound to it. She couldn't understand the lyrics, but she let herself get lost in the way he held her anyway.
It all felt so good. She felt so free.
Everything that had happened earlier, the realization that her father had taken money from Bryce and the network to give up information he knew she'd never want released about her past, the betrayal of it, the throbbing bruises on her hand from when she'd punched Bryce, the anger and embarrassment, the feeling of betrayal… It all faded from her mind as she danced in Chuck Bartowski's arms.
They were in public, in view of their friends and in Chuck's case, family, in view of everyone. All people had to do was look and they'd find Sarah Walker and Chuck Bartowski, the U.S. mixed doubles curling team, dancing so close together it was almost like they'd been carved out of the same stone block and placed in the center of the dance floor. She didn't care who saw her smooth a hand down his jacket lapel, giving it a little tug, the teasing glint of invitation in her eye. She didn't care who saw him respond by pressing his forehead to hers and nuzzling her nose.
And she definitely didn't care when she tilted her chin up just so, catching his lips in a long, warm kiss. At some point, they stopped swaying to the music, and instead just stood still, arms wrapped around one another, kissing like they were the only people in the room.
And when they broke their kiss, Chuck grinned a bit salaciously, moving his lips to her ear. "I thought I said not to do that in public unless there was a supply closet around."
She giggled. "I'm sure we could find one somewhere."
But then the music transitioned into fun, dance-worthy K-Pop again and suddenly everyone had joined them on the dance floor, jumping up and down, dancing. The entire group, except for Casey of course, smashed themselves together to dance.
Sarah found herself laughing, and then teasingly trying to distance herself from Chuck, Morgan, and Tyler as they broke into horrible attempts at the running-man.
And as they stayed out there for a while, arguably the best curler in U.S. sports history wondered if she'd ever had a better night in her life.
-oooo-
He didn't hear him anymore, but that didn't mean anything. He could be anywhere. Chuck had already learned this the hard way.
He slowly peeked his head up over the recycling bin he was hiding behind, scanning the open street. He didn't hear or see him anymore. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulled it out, glancing at it.
Casey: TM in alley. Comin 4 u now. Look alive.
Chuck dashed across the sidewalk and dove behind the nearby car, crawling through the snow and waiting at the front tire. He heard the sound of quickly approaching footsteps stomping through the snow. Someone was running. It had to be him.
"I see a man at the back as a matter of fact and his eyes are RED AS THE SUN—AHHHHH!"
Chuck leapt up from behind the car and grabbed at an incredibly drunk Tyler, making the man scream and stagger backwards. But Chuck twisted his fists in the shorter man's snow coat, and he pulled his arms out and escaped, leaving Chuck holding the jacket as Tyler scampered out of reach. "Damn it!"
"HA HA! BY THE POWER OF—AH! NO, YOU DON'T!"
Casey had been sneaking up behind Tyler and dove to tackle him but he was seen just in time. Again, the drunken Brit escaped capture.
Instead, Casey's insane bulk slammed into Chuck and they went down in a heap. "Ow! What the hell, Casey?!"
"Maybe if you'd gotten 'im the first time, moron!"
"Well, what about you the second time? And the third time?"
"Well, what about—"
"JUST GET OFF ME!"
Casey clambered off of him and helped him to his feet, smacking the snow off of his clothes. "I'm gonna fuckin' pull that little limey's spine right out of his body when I catch 'im."
"Well, maybe don't say that because he's definitely not gonna let us catch him if he think you're gonna pull his spine out of his body."
"Chuck!" He spun on his heel as he heard Sarah's voice. "Chuck, I've got him!"
"NOOOO!" Tyler was laughing even as he tried to escape his fellow curler's grasp. "I WANNA BE FREEEEE!"
Chuck dashed across the street to help Sarah, but he and Casey both skidded to a stop halfway there when the smaller man tried to break the woman's hold and ended up being literally flipped over her back and slammed into the snowbank hard enough that his body disappeared inside.
"Woops," Sarah panted, looking down at the Tyler Martin-shaped hole in the snow and shrugging.
"Holy shit!" Chuck yelled. "Holy shit! You just judo-flipped Tyler!"
"He deserved it. We're trying not to make idiots of ourselves in a foreign country and this numb-nuts goes running around outside in the twenty degree weather like a drunken dumbass."
As he moved to her side, he looked down at Tyler who seemed to either not be able to move, or not want to move.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to knock him out. But I figured someone ought to just put a damn stop to this nonsense," Sarah said with a shrug.
"Sorry?" Casey asked. He chuckled and reached down into the Tyler-shaped hole to tug the Brit out of the snow. "That made my whole damn week."
"Yeah, honestly, Sarah…Seeing you do that made my body temperature skyrocket. I'm cold and now wet, too, thanks to this friggin' asshole," he said gesturing to Tyler as he slurred some nonsense and leaned his full weight against his teammate. "So you basically singlehandedly saved me from hypothermia. Maybe. It might still happen."
She giggled and he could see her blushing. "Maybe we should all call it a night. Tyler seems like he's done."
"Hmng. After chasing 'im all over the place, I'm done, too," Casey growled. Then he hoisted the limp body of Tyler up over his shoulder. "I'll make sure he gets back in one piece and into bed. I'm the li'l fucker's roommate after all."
"Wanna share a cab?" Chuck asked. "That is…if you're ready to go?" he added, turning to Sarah.
"Yeah. After the impromptu late night chase, I'm ready for a shower and sleep."
They said their goodnights to everyone else who'd been out chasing the wild man who'd had too much whiskey and not enough self-control, then piled into two taxis that drove them back to the village.
Chuck frowned deeply at having Tyler unceremoniously shoved into the middle seat next to him, with Sarah climbing in after him and sitting on the Brit's other side, Casey taking the front seat. He ended up with the half-conscious man repeatedly falling face first into his lap every time the car turned. Or almost. He and Sarah made a joint effort to make sure he never fully got all the way down for full face-crotch action.
"Oooooohhh yeaaahhh…it's like lightninnng. So frightfully frighteninnnggmffffffff…"
Having had enough, Chuck quickly wound his arm around Tyler's head and clasped his hand over the man's mouth. "Okay, we're going to shut up now. No more singing, not even 'Ballroom Blitz'."
Tyler pushed Chuck's hand away from his face. "Buuu' iz th'bes'song in th'world."
"I mean, it's up there," Sarah said, sending Chuck a grateful look over Tyler's head. He was glad to know he wasn't the only annoyed one. "But I'd prefer silence, to be honest."
"Yeah. Ditto," Casey growled, clenching his jaw as he flashed a dark look over his shoulder. "Stupid hobbit."
By the time they got back to the Village and the taxi pulled up to their building, Tyler was passed out, using Chuck's shoulder for a pillow. He'd normally be annoyed by the man invading his bubble like this, but he decided to take the lesser of two evils. At least if he was asleep, he wasn't singing.
Sarah climbed out first and then Casey leaned into the taxi so that Chuck could hand him his roommate.
Tyler was slung over the older man's shoulder and without so much as a goodnight, Casey carried the Brit inside and disappeared as Sarah gave the driver her card.
They stood out in front of their building, then, watching as the taxi drove away and Chuck shivered, his teeth chattering. He waited for the taxi to get far enough away before he grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her in for a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she cupped his face and kissed him back, almost with a fury.
And when she finally broke the kiss, she squinted up at him a bit dubiously. "Was that kiss because you wanted to kiss me? Or was it because you're really cold and needed to warm up?"
"Can it be both?"
She giggled and squeaked in surprise when he dove in again to press his lips to hers.
A/N: Yes, I am proud of myself for this. Thanks for asking. Hahahaha! Please review! Thanks!
-SC