A/N: Thanks for continuing to read this and especially if you are one of the reviewers. FF is playing up as I write this, with some stories appearing and disappearing in the Chuck archive and the stories themselves sometimes becoming inaccessible. That has been happening a lot to my "Sarah vs Feelings" which has made it look unpopular, which has really made me appreciate the reviews I do get for my stories.
As always for this story, beta thanks to Captainrick944.
This chapter is loosely based on S1E6, "Chuck Versus the Sandworm." I stated in the author's note of the first chapter, this story doesn't follow canon timelines exactly, so please don't complain that I have skipped over S1E5 here. We will return to that later.
Piranha vs The Intersect
Chapter 7: Techie
They hadn't had much call on their time in the last three weeks, so Sarah and Casey spent time with Chuck giving him his 'field training,' as they called it. Torture was his label. He knew he wasn't fit, but they really wanted him that fit?
"Look on the bright side, Chuck. It'll improve your stamina in bed," Sarah commented as he lay panting on the living room floor after the last run.
"Not sure it works that way, Sarah. All my muscles are complaining they will never work again."
She knelt beside him. "I think we can change that tonight."
"You'll be the death of me," he moaned.
"Exactly the opposite, Chuck," she replied with a grin.
"Oh, by the way, we need to decide what to wear for the fancy dress party on Halloween," he said, changing the topic.
"Fancy dress?" she said. "Is that why Ellie has been looking at me strangely the last few days and why she asked me if I knew about Dune?"
He winced. "Yeah, probably."
"Why do I need to know about Dune? Is it a book or a film?"
"Both, actually. Morgan and I normally wear a joint costume. A sandworm from the planet Arrakis."
"And you want me to wear it with you, instead of Morgan?" she asked incredulously. Then she smirked. "Are you thinking I wouldn't wear panties?"
He turned bright red. "No, no. You'd hate it in that hot sweaty costume."
"Depends what you were doing to me," she replied, loving teasing him. She had no intention of going through with it.
"NO!" he cried. The thought of being the rear person with Sarah in her Wienerlicious costume and no panties in front sounded so wonderful, but it was so very wrong for the party. He tried to calm himself down. "We need to decide what we'll wear to go as a couple. I've never done that before."
She gave him a kiss. "Sounds fun. Let's think about that tomorrow."
The following morning, they faced an agitated General Beckman and a frowning Director Graham.
Beckman started the briefing for a change, "We've been looking for a man who escaped from a secret government lab last month. His name is Laszlo Mahnovski. Some intel suggests he may be in California. He's a weapon designer. He graduated college at age fourteen. Ph.D. at seventeen. Been with us ever since. He's not the kind of asset we can afford to lose to our enemies."
Casey growled, "Grade-a egghead."
"Do you have an image of him?" Chuck asked.
"We do and a video of him escaping," she replied.
Chuck watched the images Beckman showed, including those that showed the agents Laszlo had killed to escape. He didn't flash on the guy, though.
"Nothing?" Graham asked him.
"No, sir. I guess he's not in the Intersect."
Graham scowled.
"If it is confirmed he has headed your way, you must capture him," Beckman stated.
As that hadn't been confirmed, they all decided to ignore it for now. Chuck and Sarah had the day off from their other jobs and planned to spend it at the beach, so they wandered back to change first.
Chuck's phone rang. He answered it, recognizing the caller. "Today's my day off, Big Mike."
"I don't give a damn! Grimes has gone AWOL and he's supposed to be working a double shift. Find him and bring him in!" Big Mike then ended the call.
"I heard everything he shouted," Sarah said. "Any ideas where Morgan would be?"
"Yeah. We can still take the same things, as we're still going to the beach,"
As Chuck expected, they found Morgan at the arcade on the Santa Monica pier. Sarah let Chuck handle this and stood back as Chuck strode up to Morgan, who was preparing to play a game. "Morgan, you shouldn't be here."
Morgan tried to divert Chuck's attention. "I picked up the sandworm costume from the dry cleaners. The ranch dressing from last year totally came out, so we're all good. We can wear it at the party tonight."
Chuck wasn't distracted, but knew he needed to tell his friend that they wouldn't be using the sandworm costume. "You're supposed to be at work, buddy. You're on a double shift."
Morgan shook his head. "Dude, I've got ten big ones riding on this quote-unquote videogame, so I'm going to play this." He looked over his shoulder while putting the guitar strap over his shoulder, then back to Chuck. "This guy's been handing me my ass all week. Time to return the favor."
Someone Chuck hadn't seen before walked over, also with a guitar. The two men hit the buttons together and started to play.
Chuck saw the man's face and recognized him. Laszlo Mahnovski glanced over at him and looked him up and down, before turning back to the game.
Sarah also recognized Laszlo, but knew that trying to take him in front of all these people was not an option. She walked up to Chuck and quietly said, "Get Morgan away as soon as you can. Then, we have to entice the guy away from here. I'll call Casey."
"Okay," he replied.
Fortunately, Morgan was completely outclassed and lost the game. "God damn it!" he cried.
Chuck moved in. "You'll never beat him, Morg. He is so much better than you."
Morgan stared at his friend. "Thanks for the support, Pal! I needed you behind me, not against."
Chuck looked at him. "I'm just being realistic, Buddy. You'll just throw all your money away if you continue to compete with this guy. AND you need to go back to your shift before Big Mike kills you. Me too, because he tasked me with getting you back there!"
"Where's your sense of adventure, Chuck?" Morgan asked.
"Upsetting Big Mike is more like suicide, Morg," Chuck replied. "Get back there."
"Aren't you going to take me?" Morgan said.
"I can't. Sarah brought me here and has gone to the beach. She wouldn't let me drive that. Get back the way you got here."
Morgan's shoulders slumped. He put down the guitar and headed out.
"Pretty harsh."
Chuck looked around at the man who had spoken. "I don't know who you are, but you've crushed him, not my words."
"So, he's not good enough to compete with me, then?" Laszlo shook his head. "He was better than most, just not quite good enough." He put down the guitar he was holding.
Chuck realized that he needed to stop Laszlo from leaving before the team got here. "Maybe I'm good enough."
Laszlo scoffed, then saw determination in Chuck's eyes. That was actually determination to stall him rather than to beat him, but Chuck didn't care why the man picked up his guitar again. "Show me."
Chuck estimated he needed to stall Laszlo for at least another five, maybe ten minutes. He picked up the guitar that Morgan had left. He was good at this and did sometimes beat Morgan, but not often. He would have to be his best today.
"Ready?" Laszlo spasmed.
"Ready," Chuck replied.
They both started the game. Chuck had never felt under so much pressure when playing before. However, he quickly slipped into the right frame of mind. The usually gangly and uncoordinated Chuck became the perfect talk guitarist.
Sarah had walked back in and watched her boyfriend. She knew from watching him on his keyboard that his fingers could move fast and with amazing precision, but seeing him in motion playing the guitar was such a turn on for her. She looked around but saw no one else watching. She was glad there were so few girls in here or she'd feel threatened if their eyes settled on him.
She tried to focus on her current task of ensuring Laszlo didn't get away. She walked to block his escape if he darted to the side, while still being able to watch Chuck in action.
Chuck won and Laszlo was clearly impressed. "Best of three?"
That suited Chuck perfectly. He looked at the man and spotted Sarah beyond him. Strangely, her eyes were on Chuck rather than Laszlo. He thought he better take the man up on his request. "Sure." He reached to start the game again and noticed Laszlo focused on his wrist, or more specifically his watch, the one he had been wearing since they caught La Ciudad.
Laszlo instantly dropped his guitar and turned to run away from Chuck. He ran straight into Sarah who dodged and tripped him up. He dropped to the floor.
She leaned down, loudly saying, "I'm so sorry I tripped you, but you did run into me. As you were obviously leaving, let us help." She gripped his arm tightly so that he couldn't move.
Laszlo rattled off a series of questions. "How did you find me? Who else knows I'm here? Who do you work for?"
"I'm CIA and you don't want to mess with me," she hissed.
Chuck knelt the other side of him. "You really don't," he said with a shudder.
She nodded to Chuck to take his other arm. They lifted Laszlo up both holding an arm and guided him out of the arcade.
Casey arrived just as they heard sirens. He placed a call and the men were diverted away. Casey then took over from Chuck who watched the two agents walk away with the man who didn't look like a threat at all.
Laszlo looked over his shoulder at Chuck and down at his watch.
Once they got him to the Crown Vic, Casey cuffed his wrists and ankles and put him in the front passenger seat. "I've got this," he said to Sarah. "You take care of Bartowski."
Sarah nodded and watched the car drive away.
"He recognized the watch," Chuck said as he walked up beside her.
She frowned. "That's worrying, because it's new technology that the NSA have only just started using, or so Casey told me."
"Maybe it's one of his inventions," Chuck replied. "Not so threatening."
She nodded. "Maybe they don't just create WMDs."
He looked across the pier at the sand below. "Time for the beach?"
She smiled. "Good distraction, Bartowski,"
"Only because I want to be distracted by seeing you in a bikini,"
Her smile grew into a grin. "And you have to swim with me."
When they returned to the apartment complex, Casey waved them over to his apartment. When they got there, he grumbled. "They still haven't arrived to collect him. Apparently, he's too dangerous for normal NSA staff to handle."
"Didn't seem that way," she answered.
"Want us to keep an eye on him for a while?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah. I need a break from him," the NSA agent replied.
They walked in and saw Laszlo still bound and sitting in one of Casey's chairs.
"Coffee?" Sarah asked Chuck.
"Please," Chuck replied.
"Me too," Laszlo said.
She glared at him. "Don't trust you with a hot drink. You can have water." She walked into Casey's kitchen.
Chuck sat down on the couch opposite Laszlo. "How'd you recognize us?"
Laszlo looked at him. "Your watch? I designed that watch for the NSA. But you're not a spy, are you? You seem more like an asset."
Chuck saw no reason to explain who he was, so said nothing about that and asked, "What else did you make for the NSA?"
Laszlo shrugged. "Whatever the jobs called for. I mean, if an agent wanted thermal-vision ray bans or he wanted a parachute disguised as a backpack, I'm the guy they call."
Chuck smiled. "You're like a real-life Q?" Laszlo looked blankly at him. "You know Q. The guy who used to make all the gadgets for James Bond?"
Laszlo frowned. "Bond was that spy-guy, right?"
Chuck remembered that Laszlo had been in a bunker for a long time. "Been hidden away for some time, huh?"
Laszlo nodded. "Underground lab. For the last ten years, all I did was work in that lab, pretty much. Well, that and play video games. But, uh... No friends, no family."
Chuck imagined himself suffering the same fate if it hadn't been for Sarah. "That's inhumane," he muttered. "Where was this lab?"
Laszlo gave him the exact details. "Don't let them send me back there." Laszlo looked closely at him and then asked, "What kind of work do you do?"
Chuck didn't want to answer that. "It's kinda, uh, complicated."
"Right, but you gotta be some kind of a genius. Or a prodigy. I mean Feds don't bother recruiting somebody, guarding them with undercover agents, unless they're super-good at something. So, what are you super-good at?"
Seeing Sarah bringing him his coffee and Laszlo a glass of water, Chuck said, "Let's just say I'm a computer guy."
Laszlo saw her and reached for the water. His wrists were still cuffed and Sarah had no intention of releasing them. He held the glass with both hands and drank from it.
Laszlo looked at Sarah, taking her in and then said to Chuck. "You've done well to get a minder as beautiful as her."
Sarah raised a brow and looked at Chuck. He said, "I guess I'm lucky."
Sarah realized he was hiding his true role from the guy and thought that sensible. "Trouble is, he goes gaming and gets caught up with the likes of you."
"Or Morgan," Chuck quipped.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Or Morgan."
"How'd you get caught up in all this?" Chuck asked. Sarah was curious too, so she sat beside her boyfriend to listen.
Laszlo looked away from them. "You know, if I had to do it over again, I never would have gone to that pier."
Chuck frowned. "The pier where we picked you up?"
Laszlo just said, "I was eleven... And... Some agent saw me playing Tetris at an arcade. He asked me if I can take all these tests. The next thing I know, he's offering to pay my way through school." He sighed. "My parents didn't know what to do with a kid whose IQ is higher than both theirs combined." He looked at Chuck. "So, they signed me over. And that's when I became property of the United States government. Sweet story, huh?"
Chuck hated it and could imagine it happening to himself. Sarah could sense his unease. She took his hand in hers and squeezed.
Chuck turned to her. "He shouldn't have to go back there."
She sighed. She should have expected this. "Chuck, The NSA isn't going to give up on him. He's right about becoming property. It's wrong, but that's the way it is."
"Can't we help him escape?" Chuck asked.
"And be seen as a threat, like he is?" she challenged. "No!"
"See how much choice you have, pal?" Laszlo said.
Casey walked in. "Seems I have to keep him here until the right people can collect him tomorrow!"
Chuck stood up and walked out muttering, "I need to find out more about this lab."
"What's gotten into him?" Casey asked Sarah.
"Conscience," Laszlo stated.
Sarah couldn't really disagree, but said, "He doesn't like how Laszlo has been treated."
"Well, I don't like what he did. Killing all those people!" Casey replied.
"I didn't kill anyone. They're framing me!" Laszlo called out.
Casey walked through the room and grabbed a tranquilizer gun and shot a dart into Laszlo's shoulder. "He can sleep so I get some peace," Casey growled.
Sarah was no longer needed, so she walked over to see how Chuck was.
Chuck was rapidly typing away on his keyboard and engrossed in what he was looking at. She suspected he was trying to find a way to help Laszlo escape, not just finding out about the lab. She had something else she wanted to discuss and thought it would distract him. "Chuck, can we talk about who we go to the party as?"
He turned from his computer and looked at his girlfriend. "Sure."
"I've been looking through your comics," she said.
Chuck was both surprised and a bit excited. "You have?"
She grinned. "A few have relationships." He nodded. She continued, "But there's problems with the costumes."
He frowned. "Such as?"
"I still want to be able to see you and your gorgeous eyes," she told him.
His heart flipped as she said that. It still surprised him that she felt that way.
"So, Spiderman and Mary Jane are out. Same for Cyclops and Jean Grey."
"I probably wouldn't want you going as Jean Grey anyway. The more recent stories has her falling for another guy."
"Wolverine," she said. "You would be great as him. I could do so much with your hair." Her eyes were sparkling.
"I still think Scott is her real love and never liked her with Logan," he said, squashing that idea.
Sarah nodded. "Okay. So, my suggestion is Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Otherwise, it could be from one of your films. Star Wars, for instance."
His eyes lit up. "Both would work, but I like the idea of the Fantastic Four. We just need the costumes. We have the right hair and eye colors and you are a stunningly beautiful woman, just like Sue."
She kissed him. "I love that you think that about me, Chuck. I think you're gorgeous too."
He pulled her closer. "I now have this image of you in a tight-fitting blue costume."
She laughed. "I can wear skin-tight costumes any time, Chuck."
"Yes, please!" That made her laugh even more.
She kissed him. "I'll get the costumes sorted out. The CIA can do that quickly." She then asked, "What are you researching?"
"That lab," he replied. "I can imagine myself in a bunker like that, if Graham hadn't stopped Beckman."
She agreed.
"You know that if he gets sent back down there, more weapons will get created." He looked at her. "That would be bad for him and for everyone."
Sarah looked at him. "Chuck, we can't just let him go."
"Why not? He just wants to be free."
"If his knowledge got into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous," she replied.
"Oh, like with me?" He challenged, his look hardening.
"That's not fair," she said. "You have me and Casey protecting you."
"Minding?"
She grabbed his shoulders, making him face her, then she held his face and looked into his eyes. "Not minding. Working with. But you also know I would do anything to keep you safe, for personal reasons." She held his gaze until his look softened. She then kissed him and he wrapped his arms around her. He stood and pulled her up and fully into an embrace. The kiss deepened.
When he released her, he said, "I'm sorry. His situation feels so similar. It has me on edge. I love you."
"I love you too, Chuck."
They went to bed and showed their physical love for each other.
The NSA team came early the next morning to collect Laszlo. The lead agent was apparently Laszlo's handler who had also recruited him. "It's good that you caught him. A mentally unstable weapon designer, off his meds, running around Los Angeles, is not a good thing."
Sarah asked, "And how do you know all this?"
"Laszlo was my asset. I was the one who found him. I was the one who trained him, and I'm definitely the one who's taking him back." She frowned and he added, "We believe that he was looking to make a bomb. That would have been bad for everyone."
Chuck joined Sarah and Casey and the three of them watched Laszlo being taken to a black SUV. Chuck noticed his smile as he walked toward it. His wrists were still cuffed but not his ankles.
Casey was pleased to see him gone.
"Why did he smile when he saw the car?" Chuck asked.
"Don't know. Don't care," Casey replied.
"Chuck's right. It is concerning," Sarah said.
Chuck rushed back into the apartment and onto his computer. He accessed the lab records. Piranha got his answer quickly. Sarah was with him by this time. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "The lab designed modifications to that SUV model for the NSA. It enables a back seat passenger to take control!"
Sarah called Casey. "We have a problem."
They were soon following in Casey's Crown Vic following the other car which hadn't gotten far.
Casey called Beckman. "Mahnovski is in a car he designed. We think he'll take control of it."
"I'll contact the agents," she replied.
A few seconds later, they saw the two front doors fly off and both seats follow. The driver was on his seat, still holding the steering wheel. The passenger seat was empty. The car swerved across the central reservation and hit a truck driving the other way.
Casey swerved to the side of the road and stopped. The three of them ran back, but saw the car burst into flames.
They could see two bodies inside. One seated in the back gripping what looked like a joystick and the other face down on the seat beside him. What had happened was clear to them all. The front passenger must have wedged himself, facing backwards, before his seat shot out. He must also have shot Laszlo who lost control of the car and accelerated.
Chuck immediately threw up on the side of the road.
Casey called Beckman and reported what had happened, while Sarah called for a fire engine.
They had a call with Beckman and Graham when they got back to Casey's apartment. Beckman looked thoroughly pissed.
"Such a terrible loss," she complained.
Chuck thought so too, but he was thinking of the guy, whereas she was probably thinking of the future projects that he would have worked on.
"Who else knows about the SUV mods?" Casey growled. "I didn't."
"Only just being rolled out," she replied. "Agents getting the cars were being told."
"Sounds like all agents should know, in case they are being taken in another car," Chuck said.
"But then rogue agents could activate it," Sarah commented, getting a glare from the general.
"Sounds more of a problem than a benefit," Graham said.
Beckman looked unhappy, but had to agree.
When the call ended, the three needed to start their day jobs. Chuck had an interview for the Assistant Manager job in the afternoon, but didn't really feel like it. When he got to the Buy More, he was the only one dressed smartly as the others were all in fancy dress for Halloween.
Chuck was just leaning down and swiping his card on the Nerd Herd computer and didn't see Harry Tang approach. "Boo!"
That made Chuck jump. "Aah!"
Harry smirked. "Did I scare you, Chuck? You better be scared, 'cause I'm about ready to kill me a job interview, partner. Ka-pow!"
Chuck glared at him.
"Nice costume, by the way," Harry added as he walked away.
Chuck thought he'd be more likely to get the job if he was dressed for it, so ignored that last barb.
"Ignore him. He's just trying to put you off," Morgan said as he walked up to Chuck.
"I know," Chuck replied.
Chuck got the job with ease. He couldn't really get excited about it, though. Not after the last two days.
However, Big Mike was over the moon, although Harry Tang immediately resigning took the edge off slightly. "You need a new Sales Manager, Chuck."
"Not initially, Big Mike," Chuck replied. That was not something he wanted to rush into.
The rest of the staff were extremely happy, too. Chuck wasn't sure if that was because they really liked him, or just disliked Harry Tang so much more.
Morgan was the first to congratulate him. "Yes! No slave driver!"
Chuck looked at him. "I'm still going to expect you to work, Morgan. You and all the others."
Morgan smiled. "We may even want to do some work… for you."
"Thanks, buddy," Chuck replied.
He called Sarah to let her know. She congratulated him, then said, "How do you feel?"
He smiled. She knew him so well. "It is some recognition and it prevents the Tang tyrant from driving everyone mad, but it doesn't make me want to stay here."
"I know. We need to progress the alternative jobs," she said. "Have you told Ellie yet?"
"Not yet. I'll tell her this evening." He smiled. "I've told the most important woman in my life."
Sarah's heart melted a bit more, hearing him say that. "Love you, Chuck."
"Love you, too," he replied.
"I have the costumes for tonight," she said.
"Great. See you at five?"
"Yep," she replied.
Chuck told Ellie the good news as soon as they got home. She embraced him, and said, "Glad about that, Chuck… but you still need to get out of there," she replied.
"I know. Working on it!" he said.
Chuck and Sarah helped get the courtyard set up for the party before the four of them went to get changed.
Morgan had accepted that Chuck would spend very little time on the Sandworm costume, acknowledging that Chuck really was in a dedicated relationship.
When Chuck put on the Fantastic Four costume, he was embarrassed at how his body showed in it. Sarah, however, thought he looked 'fantastic.' "I will have to stay by you to fend off all the other women who will see what you look like. Your wide shoulders, the muscles in your chest and your groin. But I love it and will struggle to keep my hands off of you."
She then put on her costume. Chuck's eyes nearly popped out when she stood in front of him. "My god, Sarah!"
She grinned. "No. Not your God. I'm your Invisible Girl."
"There's nothing invisible about you!"
She gave him a kiss. "I think we'll both enjoy this, and the costume removal later."
His eyes definitely glazed over at that thought. Then, he chuckled. "You know Casey would have made a perfect Ben Grimm."
"The Thing, right?" she asked.
"Yeah!"
She chuckled too. "He wasn't going to hang around for this party, Chuck."
She grabbed his hand. "Come on. We need to get out there."
Morgan surprised Chuck when he walked up to them. "Chuck, we're not using the sandworm this year."
"Really?"
"Anna has come with me," Morgan replied, with a grin.
"Really?" Chuck repeated. Then he noticed that his friend was wearing a suit.
Morgan saw Chuck looking. "Not my usual gear, but Anna likes it."
"You're dating Anna?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah," Morgan replied in a dreamy tone.
"I'm glad for you, buddy," Chuck said, slapping his friend's arm.
"Thanks," Morgan replied. He then focused on the two facing him. "Wow! You two look hot together!"
Chuck leaned in and said, "Don't let Anna hear you say that about any other girl." Then he thought a bit more about that. "And especially not my sister."
Morgan nodded, then spotted Anna walking in and rushed to her.
"Not Ellie?" Sarah asked.
"He's drooled over her for years," Chuck replied. She got closer and placed a hand on his rump. "Whoa!" Then, he noticed a couple of girls looking their way. Both saw what Sarah did, and looked away. "Surely you're not feeling threatened," he said.
She hummed. "Not really. Just wanted an excuse to do that."
He grinned and reached behind her and grabbed one of her butt cheeks. She had to stifle a whelp. "Chuck, I love you doing that, but what happened to your PDA?"
"Reed Richards is a lot more assertive," he replied, grinning.
She leaned up and kissed him. "Assert away, Reed!" She reached behind herself and squeezed his hand.
"I love your body, Sarah."
She chuckled. "Sue, this evening. And you lust after it, which is fine with me!"
Ellie walked up to them. "Wow! I thought Devon and I were revealing as Adam and Eve, but you two are showing everything!"
Chuck blushed. "Ignore her, Chuck," Sarah said. "I love how you look."
"I bet you do, Sarah," Ellie commented. "You both need to mingle, though."
"Together," Sarah added.
Ellie looked at her. "I never thought you'd be so possessive."
"He's mine and I'm not letting any other woman near him. She looked down. "Especially with him dressed like this."
Ellie laughed and looked at Chuck. "I expect you feel the same about Sarah, huh?"
"Of course I do," Chuck replied, looking at his girlfriend. "She's so desirable."
"Well keep your desires in check until after the party. We want no arrests!" Ellie said, giving them both a look that emphasized that statement. Then, she walked away.
"We could always sneak away and satisfy those desires," Sarah said. "But we'd need to make sure the costumes don't get ripped."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the apartment, to their bedroom and locked the door.
Peeling the costumes off of each other was exciting, and drove them to even greater passion than either expected. The fact that there was a party going on outside, one which they should be attending, added to that.
They did get out later. Ellie looked disapprovingly at them, so they knew they had been missed.
All the people that they talked to commented on how they looked perfect together. Sarah didn't disagree with that. To her, they felt like the perfect couple. She knew how far from the truth that really was, with both of their hang-ups, him having that computer in his head and her being a killer, but for tonight she ignored all that and reveled in their closeness.
Not surprisingly, she imagined what had happened in the comics. The two had continued as part of the Fantastic Four, fighting threats, even after getting married. Could that be her and Chuck? The subject of him proposing had caused her to surprise everyone with her comments before, herself included. She had even felt disappointed when he so forcefully squashed the idea. Now, even more committed to the relationship, she really wanted it to happen at some time. She didn't think she could cope without him.
The thought of having to cope without him made her cling even tighter to him.
After the party finished and the two of them had helped Ellie and Devon clear up, they went to their room and peeled the costumes off again.
This time, she persuaded him that their lovemaking should be slower and last longer, with both of them gazing into each other's eyes or tenderly kissing. She needed that after the thoughts that had been passing through her head. He didn't question it, seemingly understanding somehow. Nor did he question how tightly she clung to him afterward, before they drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Here, Laszlo didn't get as psychotic as in the show. Nor did he survive. Sorry if that upset anyone.
A review would be great.
