Author's Note: First chapter in a long time(super short too), so I'm pretty rusty and I'm not sure if anyone is planning on reading this...either way, Happy Easter/Chavez Day.

Warning: Some adult language...

Hardly Working Chapter Four: Friends and Foes

"Bill I want these papers on my desk in an hour." Jack barked, taking a sip of his rather pricey whiskey, ignoring the burning ache it caused him.

"But sir, this mark-"

"Did I ask you to recite the entire file on him, kid?" Jack replied snarkily.

"No, I-"

"Then do it."

"Right away sir." Bill, one of Jack's many hired "analysts" was running for his life. He couldn't afford to be even seconds late. Seconds were indeed a unit of time, and time was money. Jack Walker hated losing his money.

Bill jogged, almost forgetting to breathe when he saw Carina, tripping as his papers flew everywhere. Bryce, following Carina and the others on the way to Jack's office began to laugh, Bill not even hitting the floor.

"Woah...steady there, buddy..." Chuck had barely managed to help Bill up, catching his papers simultaneously.

Carina just bore a telltale smirk. "Are you alright, bobby?"

"It's Bil...Ugh...it doesn't matter...I'm sorry..." In a flurry of half sentences, he thanked Chuck and ran.

"What's got him in such a hurry?" Chuck glanced quizically at Carina, who rolled her eyes.

"Jack. It's probably Verbanski corp. that's got his panties in a bunch."

"Verbanski corp?" Chuck asked, glancing around for Sarah, who was nowhere to be found since he'd arrived that morning, to weeks after Bryce had healed up.

"Yeah." Bryce chipped in, his demeanor certainly drier than that of Carina's or anyone else's around. "They're our arch rivals...They take up any private sector job we can't nab first."

"Really." Chuck noted this in his head, leaning back against the wall by Sarah's office.

"Yep." Carina shrugged. "This is usually when Jack hires new field agents like crazy, when we're both after the same target or mission, he likes to bulk us up and show us off..."

"I thought Walker was selective?" Chuck asked, thinking he was at least somewhat talented for being selected.

"Oh, yeah. The agents he gets are cream of the crop, and most of them don't last long."

"Team!" Jack's voice was heard from down the hall. "My office, stat. And get Sarah from her office!"

"Get Walker and meet us there." Carina old him, turning on her heel to go and retrieve Casey from the armory.

Chuck gulped, raising his hand to knock on her door. She still...intimidated? Was that the right word? How did he describe the feelings she caused him? The adrenaline when she touched him? The warmth when she-

"Come in, Chuck." Came the voice he came to think of as angelic.

"Good morning..." Chuck stepped in, masking his anxiety as he shut the door behind him. He took in a clean and cut Sarah behind her desk, finishing printing something.

She rose, her heart seeming to skip a beat upon seeing him all dressed up in a suit. "Good morning...Chuck."

"Busy week, huh?" He tried, hoping to see something other than the calculating glance.

"Hmm? Oh, very much so." She nodded, grabbing her papers. She turned to Chuck absently, leaning over to him. The smell of her perfume was intoxicating.

"Um..." He began awkwardly. She immediately saw what she was doing.

"Oh...sorry. It's just...your tie was...and I fixed-"

Chuck had never seen her babble like this. It was almost a comeplete role reversal. "Thank you..."

"Let's go speak to dad." and with that she was gone.

"Alright kids. You all know the drill. New agents are coming, and Walker..." he turned to his daughter. "I want them all trained and ready to go."

"How many, boss?" Casey piped up, irritated at the prospect of more newbies. He was much like the senior, ready to torment the freshman as best he could.

"Two, for now." Jack took another swig, leaning back. "Names are Smith and Shaw."

"I've heard of Shaw..." Carina remarked. "Cold, calculating...ex CIA?"

"That's right." Jack nodded. "and the other is a sweet girl, your age, Sarah..."

Sarah nodded, listening intently.

"Chuck...I'll expect you be kind to her." Jack winked.

Chuck was happened to be staring at Sarah, and if he didn't know better, he could've sworn that he saw something (whether it was jealousy or hatred, he wasn't sure).

"What is the purpose of the new recruits, sir?" Chuck asked.

"Well, son..." Jack smirked. "Verbanski, our...competition, always tries to out-do us with certain clients, and usually they have us out manned."

"And two people will help...how?"

"Not just two people...you kids are the very best, hand picked." Jack grinned like a shark. "Two more experts."

"Anything else?"

"What's our mission?" Bryce asked, leaning back with his feet on the table.

"Your mission will be to try and unbreak those damn legs if you don't get them off my table." Jack replied, pouring himself more whiskey.

"Let's go." Casey grunted and stretched, leading the way out for the others.

"Oh...the recruits...you meet them in an hour." Jack called out, turning back to his work.

"Fantastic." Sarah muttered as she stepped out.

"Hey. Sarah!" Chuck jogged to keep up with her, watching as the two headed to the gear room to meet the trainees.

Sarah glanced up at him, unsurely. "Hmm?"

"I uh...I was wondering what your plans...were..." Chuck never felt so awkward in his life. He had no idea where this strange impulse was coming from. "But...I...I was wondering if you..."

Sarah had stopped now, listening to him as her icy blues met his warm chocolate brown. "If I?" Her heart was racing, surely he could hear it. She couldn't believe how immature she was acting.

"If we could maybe...go out for dinner..." Chuck began.

"We?" Sarah questioned. "Like a date?"

Chuck could feel the onslaught coming. "As in...us...the new team."

Sarah felt her heart drop into her stomach. Was that relief? Or something else...dissapointment? "Oh...Well...I don't see why not..."

"My treat." Chuck smiled as he opened the door to the training room, sighing in quiet relief. He'd been so close! Maybe he mistook her questioning for ridicule? Either way, he was one step closer to learning more about her.

The team had been silently making conversation, mostly about guns, while awaiting the recruits' arival. Chuck and Sarah were farther away, each thinking about their awkward encounter earlier.

"Okay..." Sarah rose when she saw the trainees walk in, all the agents falling silent.

"I'm Agent Daniel Shaw...or...ex agent..." A tall man entered, maybe not as tall as Chuck, but quite muscular, with broad shoulders and jet black hair. "Pleasure to meet you all." he stepped forward, and immediately Chuck could see something in his eyes. Again, for the second time that day, he couldn't pick up on it.

He shook hand swiftly and firmly with Bryce and Chuck, and slowed considerably for Carina.

Finally, he arrived upon the gorgeous Agent Walker, now clad in tight workout gear as the others were. "Agent Sarah Walker..." he smirked. "What a pleasure..." he shook her hand, watching her primarily emotionless blue eyes. Chuck saw through that. There was something about this man...something that made him weary.

The next entry was quite different. Entering the room was Hannah Smith. Chuck's eyes widened slightly. Though she was no Sarah Walker, she was beautiful. She had a softer, more innocent look in her eyes.

She introduced herself, pausing to shake Chuck's hand. She looked at him with wonder.

"So you're the famous Bartowski heir?"

The question almost stunned Chuck. Sarah, who'd been trying to hear their intimate conversation, had a similar reaction.

"I...uh...how do you know about my father?" Chuck began quietly.

"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't mean it like that." Hannah began. "It's just...the CIA...it's our job to know everything."

'That was our job too, but apparently we're falling apart.' Sarah thought tp herself angrily. She didn't like how this new girl simply came and...pushed herself onto Chuck and his thoughts...she shook it off.

"Well...Let me show you to the locker room..." Sarah cut in, Carina following her as well.

"And Casey...do the same for Shaw, here."

The order was clear, Chuck and Bryce began sparring.

"So..." Hannah, clearly not comfortable with the typical silence that hung in the changing room air, began. "Agent...Chuck..." she sighed almost wistfully.

Carina, who was facing Sarah, raised a brow and smirked. She loved teasing Walker, even if Walker didn't know it yet. "What about him?" she turned back to Hannah.

"How long has he been here?"

"Little less than a month." Sarah replied, adding nothing more.

"Oh...so you've gotten a chance to work with him?" Hannah asked, seeming clearly excited.

"Yeah, he save our asses a little while back." Carina remarked.

"I'm sure..." Hannah started. "Given his father's legacy and all..."

Sarah straightened up. "What do you know about that?"

Hannah immediately withdrew. "Oh nothing...I'm sure he'd share it with you sooner or later." She felt bad for spoiling his secret.

Carina glanced at Walker, noting her almost shocked response. Smirking inwardly, she decided that this would be fun.

"You know Hannah..." Carina began, unable to resist teasing Sarah further. "He's single." she feigned interest in Hannah's thoughts and feelings.

She heard the locker slam shut. Mission accomplished.

"Really? I mean...would he be interested in me?"

"Why not? As the matter of fact, we're all going to dinner tonight..." Carina grinned. "You can sit right by him and-"

"No." Sarah blurted out.

Both girls looked up; hannah in confusion and Carina with her signature smirk.

"I mean...I need to...go over mission details...with him." Sarah recovered lamely, but Hannah fell for it.

"Oh...sure..." Hannah nodded. "Maybe tomorrow then..."

Sarah saw her out first, then turned to Carina sharply.

"You're a bitch."

"And an angel."

"How so, Miller?" Sarah almost growled.

"Stop living in your cage...just get him before she does." Carina retorted.

"I don't like him..."

"Oh, so you don't mind if I get him a little drunk and have a crack at him?" Carina rose a flirtatious brow.

"Oh, shut up." Sarah spun and pushed the door open. On the outside, she was furious. On the inside, conflicted. How could she feel this way? She trained and taught herself not to. WHo was this new Shaw character? And what was Chuck's father involved in?

So many questions, and one man on her heart.