A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Making our way through Chuck Versus the Sandworm.
Disclaimer: We don't own CHUCK or its characters. We aren't making any money writing this. We are writing it for free. You are reading it for free.
The door to the Wienerlicious slammed open, and Sarah jumped. She had a breadstick in her hand ready to throw it straight through the offending party's throat. She took one look at the offending party and realized he wasn't offending at all. However, by the look on his face he needed a hug. She didn't know if she had ever seen him this upset. She found herself wanting to comfort him, but she didn't touch him, although her hand may have drifted in his direction when she leaned across the counter towards him. "What's wrong, Chuck?"
"Let me quit, please," he begged. She searched his face. "Please, Sarah, I know it's part of the cover, but I will do anything else, it's just…." He threw his hands up in disgust. He shook his head, and leaned across the counter, his head close to hers. She found it quite intimate, but she knew he didn't mean anything by it. She couldn't help herself, she dropped her hand on top of his, squeezing it. He looked up at her, and she saw what was written all over his face. He was fed up, and who could blame him? Yesterday he had to hold her back from committing murder after one of Lester's comments. Chuck chewed him out about the way he talked to Sarah and women in general, but she was sure he would ignore it. That was okay, the day was coming he was going to get his. "Just let me quit the Buy More. I'll wear one of those…" he trailed off, searching for the words, waving at the outfit she was wearing. "Whatever they are."
"You haven't got the legs to pull it off, Chuck," Sarah replied, straight face. He stopped his meltdown and looked at her.
"Been checking out my legs, Sarah?" he asked. He turned red the second he said it and had an embarrassed look on his face.
"Chuck, one look at your legs can tell someone they're much too boney to make this look good," she said with a smirk. Chuck laughed, the embarrassed look gone. "Okay, now what is wrong?"
"The Buy More," Chuck said flatly. She gave him a look. "I mean seriously, you want me to tell you which of the crazy things that happen there make me want to quit?"
"Take a seat," she said pointing to a table. She got two glasses of lemonade, walked over, and sat down beside him. "Now, today. What happened?"
Chuck sighed. "I was sitting at the Nerd Herd desk and a customer started asking me questions. I had no idea about the product and looked around for one of the green shirts, and they were all gone."
"Casey's day off?" Sarah asked. He nodded. "So if he's not there…."
"It goes to hell," Chuck said, blowing air out of his cheeks. "Tang doesn't even mess with Casey." Sarah was giving him a sympathetic look. "They were playing mystery crisper." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Morgan takes a bite out of things that were in the crisper of the fridge since...well...forever."
"Why in the hell did I save his job if he's going to die of something he eats out of that fridge?"
"Because you wanted to know what it was like to lose to Chuck Bartowski at video games," Chuck retorted, grinning.
She wadded up a napkin and threw it at his face. He blinked as it bounced off his forehead, still grinning. She returned the grin. "You cheated."
"How did I cheat?" His face tried to convey pure innocence.
"You started telling me the story of how you got a job that Ellie didn't know about just so you could buy Ellie a gift for Mother's Day." Chuck shrugged. She stared at him. "In construction!" Chuck shrugged again. "Chuck, please don't take this the wrong way—"
"I'm not what one would call blessed with the type of body to do well at that job?" he asked.
"I wasn't going to put it that way…" she trailed off, laughing at his flat look. "But THEN, you had to add in all the times you messed up, nearly knocking people out when you tried to carry lumber around on your shoulder and someone behind you called your name..." She was picturing it again and laughing, her eyes leaking a little. "You knew I would start laughing."
He shrugged. "You said there was nothing I could do to 'throw off your game'," he replied with finger quotes. "Who wouldn't take that as a challenge?"
She wadded up another napkin and threw it in his face. "That was cheating." Chuck shrugged. "What if I had told you a crazy story like that?"
"Well, you didn't, you chose to go last."
"But then you left and didn't give me a rematch!"
"Sarah, I couldn't stay all night. What would Ellie think?" She gave him a look through her lashes, twisting her lips, trying not to laugh. "Thanks," he said softly.
"For what?" She chirped.
"Cheering me up," he replied, squeezing her hand. "I know, I gotta stay at the Buy More. Big Mike is on me to be the Ass Man."
"I'm not touching that remark." Chuck gave her a flat look, making her giggle. "It would be weird if you didn't apply for it now." He nodded. "You can talk to me about this stuff, you know. Anytime. I get that I'm the only one you can."
"Who do you have?" he asked, knocking her on her ass again. Every time she thought she had Chuck Bartowski figured out, he would say something like that. It was always just as she thought she was ready for whatever he threw at her; she'd discover exactly how not ready she was. "I hope you know you can talk to me in whatever vague way you need to...to protect your privacy."
"Thank you, Chuck," she said softly. "I just….I've never been one to talk much. It's not you, it's just…"
"I get it, Sarah. You're more of an action girl, which is why you're so mad I beat you."
"YOU CHEATED!"
Chuck threw his head back and laughed. "I better get home. Oh, hey. One thing. Ellie is on me about not having a picture of you in my room. Is it okay if I put one up? You know, you being a spy and all...is that legal?"
She grinned. "It is, as long as it's okay with said spy." She had an evil thought of how to mess with him. "Wait..." she said, making herself look a little offended. "What did you have in mind?" Chuck's face lost all color and she had to make herself stop from smiling. She had led him right to the cliff and he had jumped over again. He began to speak quickly, worry in his voice.
"Oh, God...tell me you don't…." He stopped as she began to grin, seeing realization dawning on his face. Chuck dropped his head. "Damn it, you got me again."
"Tell you what...I'll take care of it, okay?" She patted his hand and he shook his head.
He headed for the door, and looked back over his shoulder at her. "You sure?" Sarah nodded. "'Kay, don't forget the Halloween party."
"And you're going with Morgan as the sand thingy?" The amused expression on her face spoke volumes.
"You're not jealous that your cover boyfriend is not going with you in a matching couple costume, are you?" Chuck had a huge smile on his face. Sarah wadded up another napkin and hit him in the forehead with it. "Damn, you have some range with that." She snorted. "Seriously," he said, his voice softening, and she heard something else in it. "Thanks." She couldn't speak, so she just smiled and nodded.
He left and she nearly collapsed. That smile… Damn it, Chuck. She shook her head and went to get her phone. She needed to order a cover photo of the two of them from the CIA substation. She just hoped it went over better than the soufflé. Who was she kidding, anything would go over better than that soufflé.
}o{
"Hey!"
Chuck looked up at the sound of his sister's voice as he walked into the apartment, tossing his keys in the bowl. "Hey, wassup...er, up there?"
She was standing on a stool, putting up cobwebs for Halloween. Which was her thing. She loved decorating for Halloween. And he usually helped her but this year it just felt…
"We don't have enough actual cobwebs already?" he teased her as she giggled.
"I'm getting ready for our annual Halloween party. What time are you going to be getting here after work Wednesday? Will you be able to help with prep?" She climbed down from the stool, using his shoulder to brace herself, then scurried to the other side of the kitchen to grab more decorations.
"Ohhh...Um, actually I don't think I can. I might be late in fact. They scheduled that whole interview thing for the maybe-promotion that afternoon."
She pulled her lips back between her teeth in a confident smile. "Well, we can just make that an assistant manager party too, then."
His sister Ellie, ever his biggest champion. "Sure! Yeah. If ya feel like jinxing it."
She didn't seem as worried about that as he was, completely ignoring the nervous tone in his voice as she cupped his face in both hands. "You're just finally growing up, aren't you?" she teased, making him laugh. But then she made a little humming sound that felt a lot more sarcastic than was really necessary and he knew why a moment later. "Do you think that this year would be a good time for you and Morgan to have separate costumes?"
Chuck reared back, offended. "Excuse me, but what's wrong with our costume?"
She gave him a look that said, You really don't know?
"Um, I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend. But the whole two-man sea cucumber thing is kind of creepy." She picked up a bunch of decorations and slowly moved away from him, wincing.
"First of all, it's a sandworm, okay? Shai-Hulud, to be specific." She didn't look like any of that made a speck of a difference to her. If anything, he'd just out-nerded himself. "And second of all, Dune fans have been goin' nuts over our costume since the eighth grade."
He really hadn't made a believer out of Ellie Bartowski, had he?
Then a booming voice came from the hallway. "YO! Chuckster." Chuck turned and immediately wanted to be literally anywhere else. "Guess what I am?" his sister's boyfriend asked, wearing literally nothing on his body except for a flesh-colored speedo with a small fig leaf pasted over his crotch.
This is the worst day ever…
"Yoooou're...naked?"
"I'm Adam. Ya know? Like Adam and Eve, Adam?" He fixed Chuck with a serious look. "Wait 'til you see my snake."
"I don't wan—I don't wanna see your snake," Chuck said in a flat voice, looking away.
And of course his sister just laughed, strolling up to them and putting her hands on her brother's biceps, squeezing supportively. "Devon, Chuck here has an interview on Wednesday."
"Wait, what? Is that for the Ass Man?"
"Please-Please stop calling it Ass Man. I just waxed poetic about how adult this situation is—an interview for a managerial position—and you call it 'Ass Man'." Ellie sent her boyfriend a roll of the eyes.
"Okay, but it's funny," was his excuse. "Outstanding, though, bro!" He gave Chuck a double handed high five that made his hands sting really bad.
His sister groaned as his phone started to ring in his pocket. He groaned along with her, but for a different reason. "What nooowwww?" He pulled his phone out and saw it was Big Mike. Damn it.
"Hello?" There was nothing, just the sound of clicking. "Hello?"
"I'M GETTIN' TENSE!" Chuck jumped. "You know I don't like gettin' tense!"
He had five years of experience dealing with this sort of situation, whatever the situation was, and he put on his best calming voice. "How can I help ya relax, Big Mike?"
"Find that jackass Morgan! Your buddy's supposed to be working a double shift today but he went AWOL."
"He did...what? What now?" He turned and glanced at Ellie, who'd been giving Devon directions, but they both stopped and looked back at him, question in their faces. "AWOL?"
"He was here one minute, then gone the next. Almost like you not being there meant he was off his leash. If you don't get his ass back here in the next hour, I don't know what I'll do, but that little jerk is on real thin ice."
"G-Got it, Big Mike. I got it. I'll get him there ASAP."
"You better." He heard the loud click on the other end and winced, slowly lowering his phone and giving his sister and her boyfriend the flattest look he could muster.
"That nap I was about to take? Yeah, not happening."
"What's up, bro? Anything I can help you with?" Devon asked.
"Not dressed like that, thank you." He snorted. Then he shook his head. "No, really. Thanks, Awesome. But it's just Morgan. He's left the Buy More in the middle of his double shift and I need to go find him." He dialed Morgan's number but it went to voicemail.
"If that little bearded idiot loses you that promotion, I'll murder him with my bare hands. Make sure he knows that when you find him," Ellie growled.
"Hey, Morg, where are ya, buddy? Big Mike is piiiiiissed. You better get back to the Buy More." He hung up and snorted. "Pretty sure your threat of murder made it onto that voice message, so good lookin' out, sis."
"You know he's at the pier, right?"
Chuck frowned. "What?"
"Morgan! That's where you two always went when you ditched school. You went to the pier."
He snapped and rushed to the door. "You're a genius, Ellie!"
He heard her "I knooow" right before he slammed the door behind him, rushing out to the Herder. He had fifty-five minutes to get Morgan back to the Buy More.
}o{
The arcade was loud as he walked in, so he wouldn't be able to call Morgan's name, probably. Or he could ask the bored-looking teenager behind the counter if he could use the intercom. Right?
But then he turned and saw Morgan standing near the Guitar Shredder stage, running in place, stretching. Oh shit. That was what he did when someone was whooping him at a video game. That meant he was going to come face to face with intense Morgan. And butthurt Morgan. And bitter Morgan. All at once.
Shit.
"Hey! Hey, Morgan! Where you been, buddy?"
"SUP, BUDDY!"
Chuck met Morgan's intense two-handed high five emphatically even though he was about to chew him out a little. "Where have you—Where have you been? I been trying to call you."
"I picked up the sandworm costume from the dry cleaners so we're all freakin' good, bro!" He stepped up onto the stage and grabbed the plastic guitar. As though his answer was a good enough one. "You ready to win another Buy More costume contest?"
"No. No, no… 'Cause, you're supposed to be at work, buddy."
Morgan didn't even look at him—and where the hell'd he get that stupid hat? Instead he shook his head a little, staring at the screen. "Nah, I've got ten big ones ridin' on this quote on quote video game, so...Can I just have, uh…?" He lifted up his arm and waved at some young guy standing over in the corner, beckoning him onto the other stage. "This guy's been handing me my ass in this all fuckin' week, man. I'm tired of it. Time to return the favor," he snarled at the unmoved opponent.
They both looked at each other with bring it on looks and smacked the start buttons as Chuck looked on. Seriously? Who the hell even was this other guy? Did he not have a job?
Chuck lifted his gaze to his face and felt that damn tingle in the back of his head. No no no no no…
He shook his head after the flash, working his jaw, blinking. Lazslo Mahnovski. Considered dangerous. Nothing else? Really? That was all the Intersect had on this guy? He was on the run, maybe. But all he needed to know was that Morgan was currently taunting a dangerous man the CIA was possibly looking for over a stupid video game.
"Um, Morgan?"
"Yeah, buddy?" He didn't take his eyes off the game for a second, and Chuck didn't take his eyes off of Lazslo.
"Morgan, this guy is dangerous." That made Lazslo's eyes leave the game and look right into his face, suspicion and fear, weirdly enough, in his red-rimmed eyes.
"Well, Morgan's dangerous, Chuckie! Morgan's dangerous..."
Freaking idiot.
Lazslo stopped playing altogether, just glaring at Chuck, dropping his gaze to look at...something...and lifting them back to his face again. He dropped the guitar and merely walked away from the game as Morgan taunted him, calling him a loser…
Chuck ignored everything else and moved around to the backside of the Guitar Shredder set-up, following in the general direction that Lazslo had gone. He wasn't going to really follow him, but who in the hell was Laszlo Mahnovski and why was he here playing Guitar Shredder at the pier? Just as he was going to circle back, grab Morgan, and get the hell out of here where he could call Sarah and Casey, he felt someone crash into him, fists clenching in his shirt.
He was whipped around and came face to face with Lazslo, the shorter man's grip stronger than he would've expected. "How did you find me?" he demanded. "HOW DID YOU FIND ME?! Who else knows I'm here?"
Chuck just stared in abject fear, gaping, not knowing what to do, because this guy seemed genuinely unhinged.
"Who do you work for?" Lazslo asked again.
"No one! No one! Lemme go! L-Look, I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." Did his phone have a panic button? How fast could Sarah and Casey get here?
"I know you're a spy!" Lazslo exclaimed, his eyes wide and desperate as he grabbed Chuck again and turned him to face the other way, finally letting go of his shirt but not looking like he was ready to allow Chuck to get away any time soon. "Your watch! I designed that watch for the CIA," he said in a slightly quieter voice that was no less panicked. "Are other agents waiting for me outside?" he asked, breathless. Chuck just gaped. "ARE THERE OTHER AGENTS WAITING FOR ME OUTSIDE?!"
Morgan burst out from behind the game system. "HA HAAAA! You're not sneakin' away from me…" Chuck just gaped at Lazslo, trying to come up with a plan of action. But then the man met his gaze, just for a second, before turning on his heels and dashing out of the arcade altogether. "WAIT WHOA! YOU STILL OWE ME TEN BUCKS!" Morgan whined after him.
This time, Chuck didn't follow. But Morgan did, dashing after the so-called dangerous man. Shit. Shit!
"MORGAN!" he belted, chasing after his friend. But as he skidded to a halt on the wooden planks of the pier, he saw that the guy didn't mean to harm Morgan, even though he was still whining about the game. Instead, Lazslo Mahnovski hightailed it down the pier toward the shore, escaping instead of fighting. From a weak, inexperienced looking "agent" no less.
Who was this guy, and what had he done to get into the Intersect?
}o{
The panicked sound of Chuck's voice when he called her had gotten Sarah out of her hotel room in less than fifteen seconds. Once she ascertained that this Lazslo guy had escaped and that Chuck had grabbed Morgan and gotten himself back to the Buy More safely, which was exactly what he should have done, before he gave her a call, she eased up on the gas pedal.
She told him to meet her back at his place after he dropped Morgan off and now here she was knocking on the door. After she hung up with Chuck, she called Casey who said he'd get guys on this Lazslo fellow she'd never heard of.
And now Ellie was standing there, door open, a big smile on her face. "Hey! Sarah, hi!"
"Hi, Ellie." She smiled back. "Is-Is, uh, is Chuck here? He was gonna meet me here after he dropped Morgan off at the Buy More."
"No, not yet. But come in!" Ellie reached out a welcoming hand, putting it on Sarah's arm as she thanked her and came in.
"Hey there, Sar!" Devon chirped from the couch. She waved. There was a hole against the arm of the couch that told Sarah she'd interrupted a comfortable cuddling and television session between the couple, which made her feel...uncomfortable.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude—"
"You aren't intruding. You're never intruding."
"What she said!" Devon called out.
Sarah laughed. "Thanks. Um...Well, I don't want to keep you from…" She thought she just wouldn't finish that. "Is it cool if I just wait for him in his room? I, um...I sort of have a surprise for him."
Why the hell did she say that? She wanted a reason to just be waiting around for him without it being awkward and by the look on Devon's face, she'd just made it even more awkward. Damn her stupid mouth. Why were these people so nice and normal, and yet they made her so unnerved? She'd looked criminal mastermind murderers in the face and hadn't been this nervous.
"Oh! Yeah, of course. You're totally welcome to wait in there. Can I get you something to drink?"
"Nooo, no. Thank you. Thanks. I'm just gonna…" She gestured down the hallway, thanked them again, and quite nearly made a dash for it.
She shut the door behind her when she got into Chuck's bedroom and tilted her head back to roll her eyes at the ceiling, letting out an annoyed groan. What just happened out in the living room was less important, though, than the phone call she'd gotten from Chuck.
The guy couldn't even go to the arcade at the pier without flashing on people, it seemed. Which made her wonder… Was it necessary for either her or Casey to be with him if he ever went somewhere that wasn't to and from the Buy More? Was he even safe running errands?
She didn't want to get too carried away, but Chuck had seemed like he was verging on hysterical as he panic-whispered at her, wondering if Lazslo Mahnovski could have beat Morgan to death with his video game guitar. She hadn't known what in the hell that meant, really, but she would now be tasked with deescalating this situation, as well as handling the fact that Chuck was clearly freaking out.
Sarah couldn't blame him for it. His flashes usually gave him more information than just "Considered Dangerous". Who in the hell was this guy that they had less info on him in the Intersect than they'd had on her?
And as nervous as this made her, as much as she feared that guy might be at the arcade for Chuck in particular, she needed to find her calm again, because Chuck would need her to be calm. He had a strange knack for noticing if she was unsettled. It was frustrating, especially because he played off of it if he felt nerves from her.
She went to the blinds and opened them a bit so that she could see when he walked by, and then she took a deep breath and paced across to glance at his bookshelf. There were some science fiction books that looked like they were a few decades old and super beat-up, and then there were comic books, action figures, more comic books… For a grown man, she found he had a lot of toys. And yet somehow it made his bedroom more...him. It was a strangely comforting place, she found.
And she'd recaptured her calm when she saw the shadow of Chuck Bartowski dash past the window. She went over to stand there and stare across the courtyard as she distantly heard the door open and voices in the living room. What was Casey finding out about Lazslo Mahnovski right at this moment? Should they be nervous? She hoped this didn't lead Graham and Beckman to assign them some sort of mission, bring this guy in. That would put Chuck in yet another risky situation, which was the last thing any of them needed.
The door burst open and she spun to watch as Chuck swung into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Hey!" He was breathless, nervous. Panicked. Damn it. "Who is this Lazslo character? He just ID'd me as an agent. That seems like a pretty big deal. That seems really bad. I'm supposed to be flying under the radar, right?"
"Relax. We're looking into him now. And you did the right thing getting to safety and calling me instead of following him."
"I didn't do anything! I just flashed on the guy!"
"You followed protocol. You didn't chase after him. That's exactly what you should do in a situation like that, anytime you flash on someone in public." She kept her voice measured, clear, as though she and Casey had everything under control.
"I couldn't chase after him. He dashed away from me like...like he was trying to get out of there. Escape. I mean, he was kind of unhinged...it, uh, rattled me. Like, crazy eyes to the max." He shook his head, his brow furrowed. "But he was just trying to get away, not hurt...anyone."
"That's an assumption, Chuck. We don't know what he's doing here or what he's planning to do. But we're going to figure that out, okay?" She smiled a little, trying to be reassuring. "For now just...stay here and maybe get some sleep."
Chuck let out a frustrated huff. "Get some sleep. That's all you people say to me, and yet that's the only thing I can't seem to get. Headaches? Yep, sure. Rug burns?" She gave him a confused look at that and he narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. "S'a...um, long story. Doesn't matter. But I definitely do not get sleep. Like...ever. And I'm not gonna tonight. There's a crazy guy out there who knows that my watch is CIA-made because he made it, and he thinks I'm an agent. So he's gonna be looking for me maybe. I'm not gonna sleep, Sarah."
She sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear, switching her weight. "It'll be fine, Chuck. I promise. Casey and I will be right across the courtyard. We're going to check in with you again in the morning and give you a full update on what we find. Sound good?"
"Not really, no, but I guess I don't really have a choice."
Sarah shrugged because he kind of didn't. And then she made to walk around him to where she'd put down her bag on his bed. But then he burst out with a, "Wait. Wait, wait…hold on." As she turned around to face him expectantly, he got a supremely uncomfortable look on his face. Tentative. Awkward, even.
"Look, if it's cool with you...could you...hang out...for a little while?" The words sounded very pained as they came out of him. She gave him a confused look. "Uh, Awesome and Ellie think that...I'm...kind of getting lucky...in here...and I wouldn't want to disappoint." Well, that nearly knocked her right on her ass. She couldn't help the way her jaw fell open a little. And damn it, but she felt the blood burst through her veins like someone had pumped them with uppers. "Them," Chuck added then, and it was painfully obvious why he'd felt the need to add that. Obvious to both of them. Dear God, this was her fault. Devon had probably said something to him...because of the "surprise" she told them she brought. And while she did bring him something, it wasn't—Oh, God.
"Oh!" Words. Words, words, words… "Uhhhh...W-Uh. Um." She played with her fingers in front of her and looked to the side. The bed was to the side. Bad idea. So instead she stole a quick glance at him, swallowing thickly. "Uhhh...W-How long...do you...want me to stay?" she asked, feeling incredibly out of her depth. She felt struck dumb.
"Forty two minutes and fifteen seconds?"
Sarah pulled her chin back and gave him a look. How the hell did he come up with that number that quickly?
"Arcade Fire's first album," he explained. "It's like an...auditory aphrodisiac." The dreamy look on his face told her that he'd thought about this before, that this was...a thing for him, even. That maybe he'd… No, she wasn't going to think down that road. Not at all. The look died on his face and he cleared his throat. "You're not really ready for that yet." Nope. "KAY." He spun and turned on some other thing she'd never heard of, then.
And she took advantage of him turning to get some music going to compose herself, swinging her arms a bit, glancing at the bed, and haltingly moving over to sit on it awkwardly. This was the worst possible scenario for her showing up at his place at night to check on his well-being after his brush with Lazslo the Mystery today.
But she knew if she walked out of this room, after everyone had done their best to build the whole sex thing up, Ellie and Devon would think something had gone wrong. It would compromise their cover as boyfriend and girlfriend. Ellie would ask questions. Ugh, what a mess.
Chuck mumbled to himself a bit as the music flooded the room and then he cleared his throat and walked towards her, freezing at her side, and then sitting, his back brushing against her arm.
She folded her hands in her lap, admitting to herself that this was absolutely the first time she'd had to do something like this for the job. How did they even tackle this situation? She knew the one thing they couldn't do. And so they just sat there.
Sarah could see in her peripheral as Chuck attempted to turn and say something, awkwardly thinking twice about it and turning back to face front, then trying a second and third time, never once actually getting anything out. At least she wasn't alone in her discomfort, she supposed.
He finally did speak after about thirty seconds of awkward silence.
"Why were you in my room anyway?" He turned to glance at her over his shoulder.
"Well, uh... " Good, she could dive right into business. Thank you, Chuck. She spun to grab her bag, pulling the picture out of it. "I-I wanted to surprise you…" His profile looked very confused and she decided to just show him. "Uh…" She handed the picture over. "It's us at—at Comic-Con."
They were dressed as someone named Han Something or Other and Leia, was it? Something from Star Wars. Something she managed to avoid for the most part throughout her life, even if she knew what it was. People fighting wars in space. A guy in a black mushroom-shaped helmet with a deep voice who breathed really hard.
The job they'd done on the photoshopping was okay, she thought. Why they put them at Comic-con was a little iffy, though. They'd been dating for maybe a few weeks. Was Comic-Con a frequent thing? Was that just something some nerds did on the weekends? The analyst who sent it over thought nobody would question it. And Chuck was a nerd, so...maybe he'd appreciate the extra effort she'd asked Newman to go into.
"What do you think?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear a little nervously.
He let out a huff, smiling just a little, looking gobsmacked. "It-It's great," he said. She heard a tinge of warmth in it.
But then Chuck held it up a bit closer, taking it all in, and the smile died, his brow furrowed. "But we've...never actually been to Comic-Con, you and me."
"No, but...that's okay, right? I mean, it's a picture of us. And Ellie might be...okay with it? I mean, the important thing is that you're okay with it. Us, I mean. There. You like Star Wars, yeah? Or is it just..um, Dune?"
"No, I love Star Wars! Love it. You—I mean, I've memorized the entire OT."
"The what?" she asked with a small smile, raising her eyebrows.
"The original trilogy. Sorry. Before all this, Ellie, Devon, Morgan, and the Nerd Herders were the only people I really talked to—besides customers, obviously—and, um, I need to speak in English now. Heh."
She sniffed in amusement. "It's okay." When Sarah turned her grin on him, she saw that he was gazing at the picture again, a small smile on his face. "What?"
"No, it-it's just that we...I dunno, we really look like a real couple here."
"Well, we…" She had to tread carefully here. "We are a real couple. We're just a...different sort of a couple." That sounded lame the moment it came out of her mouth, and she was just glad he couldn't see her face as she lifted her blue eyes to watch him, taking him in for a long while in a way she didn't typically allow herself to. She both wanted to and didn't want to know what he was thinking as he looked at the warm, coupley picture of them, a picture they hadn't taken. It wasn't real. Someone had photoshopped it. And no, they weren't a real couple, or even a "different" sort of a couple. That wasn't the best way to respond and she knew it. But she couldn't take it back now.
"That we are," he said quietly, looking down at the picture again. "Thank you." He turned to smile fully at her. "For doin' this. You could've just stuck our heads on some stock photo of a couple in front of the Hollywood sign." He chuckled at that, giving her that warm look of his. "But you didn't. You, um, personalized this to the max."
Sarah giggled. "Well, you are a huge nerd. I figure you'd take a girlfriend to a nerd convention before you would take her on a hike to the Hollywood sign."
"Uuuuhhh. Not a woman like you. Not if I wanna keep your around instead of having you running for the hills screaming."
She watched him for a moment as he smirked down at the picture again. "Don't be so sure of that, Chuck."
The CIA agent supposed she should've just let him think whatever it was he was thinking, but she didn't like these moments he had when he dressed himself down like this. She didn't think there was any harm in building him up a little. So what if he had a lot of toys even though he was twenty-six years old? So he could quote the...OT? She was relatively sure John Casey could quote the entire Constitution and every amendment on top of that, as well as every Reagan movie...that last one was a little offensive to her, but everyone had their thing she guessed.
Thankfully, he didn't respond with words, just looking over at her and smiling. Then he leaned in and bumped her a bit with his shoulder.
Perhaps this had turned out okay after all. Even if Ellie and Captain Awesome thought they were at this moment having sex, which was incredibly awkward, at least the air wasn't as tense or as embarrassed as it had been.
Sarah plucked the picture back from his hands. "Lemme put it over here on your dresser, right next to your head."
"Why's that?" he asked, amusement in his voice.
"So you can kiss it before you go to bed. Isn't that what people do with this sort of thing?"
"Oh Goddddd!" he groaned, flopping onto his back dramatically and making her laugh.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please leave us reviews. Thanks!
-SC and DC