CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #1: Welcome back everyone, it's Tuesday, which means it's time for another chapter of Desire! We've met Nora Rogers, and thankfully many of you are as enamored with Nora as I am. Now we're going to revisit Thursday, May 14th, 2009 and see what Chuck and Sarah got up to while Nora was making her way to Burbank. This chapter, like the last two, was originally the first half of a larger chapter. The seventeenth chapter was originally the conclusion of this chapter, but at nearly 12,000 words, it was just too damn long. Keep that in mind when you read this chapter and know that certain elements of this chapter are going to come up in chapter seventeen.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #2: A big thanks to my wonderful friend and beta reader Nev Rawlins, AKA nevr, he's slogged his way through my insanely long chapters for five months now as i've worked on this second story arc. I could not have done this without him and his feedback. Thank you Nev, this is only possible because of your persistence and encouragement!
Desire
A Story by
CharmingCharles2896
Chapter Inspired by the Song
Over the Midnight by Jonathan Wilson
Chapter Sixteen
One Night in Berlin
Maison23
Burbank, California
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
7:05 AM PST
Chuck Bartowski was not a man known for sleeping in, he just wasn't; since he was a boy, he'd gotten up early to help Ellie around the house before she had to leave. Given this history, it was no surprise when Chuck's internal clock awoke him just after seven in the morning on Thursday, May 14th. Like always he'd gone to turn over and reach for his phone, but a blonde goddess stopped him. That was when he noticed that his sleeping position was different this particular morning. Chuck Bartowski was sleeping on top of something, or more correctly, on top of someone. Chuck's eyes crept open to see that his warm pillow was none other than the comforting chest of his wife. In that moment, as Chuck's head rested on Sarah's tee shirt covered bust; he looked up and saw his wife's uncomfortable sleeping position, Chuck instantly felt bad.
"Stop it, I did it for love and I'd do it again," Sarah mumbled as if knowing what he was thinking.
"But you look so uncomfortable," Chuck replied quietly with a yawn. Sarah stretched a little, her back popping loudly as she groaned.
"If this is what it takes to keep the nightmares you were having last night, at bay, then it was worth it," Sarah said drowsily as she sat up slightly and adjusted her pillows back to their normal positioning and laid back down with a tremendous sigh. Once again Chuck went to leave the bed, but Sarah grabbed him again.
"No, stay and sleep some more, you must be exhausted," Sarah said as she held his arm and pulled him back to her.
"But…" he said, trying to come up with an excuse for some reason that he didn't fully understand.
"Just let me take care of you for once in your life, please," she said as she opened her arms and welcomed him back to bed. Chuck acquiesced and climbed back under the covers; as he snuggled in under the covers, he pulled her in close to him until she was spooned in close to him. Sarah hummed in contentment as a smile appeared on her face.
"This is nice," she mumbled drowsily into the dark room. Chuck knew he wouldn't sleep some more, but if Sarah wanted him to stay in bed so she could get some more sleep, then he'd stay. Chuck was asleep in seconds…
~X~
Castle
Burbank, California
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
1:30 PM PST
As Chuck and Sarah strolled into the still dark Double O, the business without a worker, Chuck couldn't help but admit that he'd needed that extra sleep. Of course, the lovemaking afterwards hadn't hurt either. Sarah was in a particularly good mood today, she'd been nauseous most of the morning the day before, so the fact that she hadn't been today had Sarah downright eager for some fun. Of course, Chuck was more than willing to reap the rewards of that fun and he couldn't think of a better way to wake up. As the two of them stepped through the door into Castle, Chuck leaned over and whispered into Sarah's ear.
"I'm gonna have to think of a way to repay you for that amazing wake up this morning. I'm thinking a reward if you nail your interview today," Chuck whispered into Sarah's ear, making her shivered at the feeling of his breath on her skin.
With a blush of arousal, Sarah gave Chuck a smile and pushed him gently. "As if I needed even more incentive to do well. But an offer like that? Now, I'm going to crush it!" Chuck simply gave Sarah an amused smile and the two of them walked into Castle, where they found Casey sitting at the main table, waiting for the briefing to start. Casey heard the sound of Chuck and Sarah's footsteps and looked over at them. He had to admit, the two of them had never looked so happy. As long as he'd been a part of this team, there had always been a longing between them that drove him nuts. Now, Casey saw a loving couple that was finally enjoying life. Casey was waiting to see how the spy life affected their little bubble of happiness. The arrival of this new girl intrigued him, this Nora Rogers sounded like an inexperienced agent, but her file told the story of a highly qualified agent who'd gotten on the bad side of Langston Graham and had been cast aside for it.
Casey had never liked Graham; even before all of this Intersect business, he'd just always hated the feeling of unease he felt around the man. Langston Graham came from money, he was the son of an Admiral, so he had connections that allowed him to get away with much more than anyone else could get away with. Now knowing how he'd recruited his star agent, Sarah Walker, now Bartowski, Casey had a feeling that Agent Rogers' unredacted service record would likely tell the story of a woman working for a crooked man and doing all kinds of twisted and illegal shit. Who knew what shit Graham made his pet projects do for him. It wasn't an accident that Walker had earned her nicknames, plural. Her nickname as Graham's wildcard enforcer had come from a mission where she'd killed an entire ten-man team of investigators from Egypt, who'd been looking into the CIA's actions in their country. The rumor was that they were about to expose Graham for his attempts to assassinate the President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak. As a statement of policy, the United States does not assassinate heads of state.
Instead, Graham sent his attack dog, Sarah Walker, to Egypt, and she killed every one of them under the auspices that they'd be exposing the United States to potential danger if state secrets got out. At the time, Walker was still a rookie agent. So, when he'd sent her in March of two-thousand and three, she'd just began work as an assassin. It took her two days to kill all of them. As far as Casey had learned, she'd poisoned six of them with a tainted food delivery while they were at work and then she caught up to the others and terminated them the next day after they'd gone to hide out at their homes.
When word of Walker's mission for Graham started to trickle into the US Intelligence community, she was quickly dubbed "The Enforcer" by her peers at the CIA. That was a name she had for several years, though the word "Wildcard" was eventually added to that nickname. Her nickname changed forever in February of two-thousand and seven, when a mission in Bogota went sideways and she was captured for three days. Nobody knows exactly what happened to her on that mission, the details beyond classified, but the rumors of her slaughtering an entire human trafficking ring, or burning down a drug den full of child slaves in order to escape, or shooting her way out of a prison while naked and doped up on psychoactive drugs are legendary. Personally, Casey didn't believe any of those rumors. Did he believe that something horrible happened to Walker in Bogota and it was likely Graham's fault? Absolutely, he did; but Casey wasn't about to ask her, and Graham was dead. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter anymore.
Graham had been the one who had pushed for Chuck's termination, an order that in hindsight, Casey should have refused from the outset as being illegal. Langston Graham was always like that, he always chose the path easiest for him, even if it meant destroying everyone around him. That was why, when Casey had heard that Graham had been blown the hell up by Fulcrum, Casey hadn't felt that bad about it.
"Mornin', Casey," came Chuck's voice as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Casey simply gave Chuck a grumbling reply, "Ain't the morning, numb nuts." Sarah's brow furrowed at Casey's grumpy reply. She pulled out a chair and sat down as she saw Casey type in the command to signal to the General that everyone was ready for the briefing to start.
"What's got you so cranky?" she remarked as Chuck sat down next to her and retook hold of her hand.
Casey simply shrugged and replied, "I haven't been on an op in six damn days, I feel like I'm going stir crazy," he said as he looked over at her.
"Well, you're just going to have to suck it up, because you all are on stand down for another ten days. The mission may have been a ruse, but I made a deal, with Analyst Bartowski, to give the team some time off after… everything, and I intend to uphold that deal," General Beckman said bluntly, surprising all of them, who hadn't noticed the screen come to life. Chuck nodded appreciatively to the General, who nodded back subtly and cleared her throat to get down to business. "All right, first order of business, Agent Bartowski," Sarah perked up as Beckman spoke. "Your sanitized cover résumé was submitted to the Buy More along with a job application, what's the word on that?" The General asked.
"My interview is today at five thirty, I'm supremely confident and well-motivated to ace this interview, so I wouldn't worry about it," Sarah said as she slipped a sly glance a Chuck who smirked. General Beckman simply nodded, having noticed the exchange between the newlyweds, and knowing full well that there was likely a sexual element to her motivation. Diane Beckman was truly happy for them, they looked insanely happy together, which had made her wonder if all those times she'd done 49B's over the years had been the right choice. How many times had she made the same mistake as she had here? Those were the kind of thoughts that kept her up at night, the second guesses and indecision.
"As we discussed in private yesterday, your cover is that you worked for the government in a classified capacity and left to be with your husband. You can expand on that as you see fit, but be cautious." Sarah nodded in understanding, knowing what her boss meant.
"In other news, federal personnel officially closed down your DC residence yesterday, Agent Bartowski." Sarah nodded, having expected this to happen eventually. "The few contents found there have been packaged and have been shipped to Burbank, along with your Porsche." Sarah's eyes brightened significantly at the mention of her car.
"That is great news, General, I look forward to driving my own car again," Sarah said with a smile. General Beckman simply nodded in reply to Sarah.
"I was informed the courier should deliver the keys for the storage unit at the LA field office and the information to pick up your car from the motor pool within the hour. The field office will have assets to assist you in moving your stuff… or you could simply rent a U-Haul, whichever is easier," The General said frankly, knowing how slow the field office was in Los Angelis. Chuck had to stop the chuckle from escaping him, he always found it funny when Beckman got super blunt and honest.
General Beckman continued her briefing. "Minutes ago, Director Hawthorne and I finished briefing Agent Rogers on her assignment in Burbank. We read her in on the Intersect Project and her new position on the team. Michael and I decided that we'd leave introductions to the three of you as well as bringing her up to speed on all of the relevant people for her cover. Your task today, is to create a short dossier of all of the relevant people that Agent Rogers needs to know about. Include relevant information on each of them and how they are a factor in the operation." Chuck, Sarah, and Casey all nodded in understanding.
"Any questions?" General Beckman.
"How detailed should we be?" Sarah asked. "Ellie alone could be several pages of background information if we wanted to really be detailed." The General pondered that question for a moment, it was a good question considering all of the information they likely had to catch Rogers up on.
"I'll leave the level of detail to your discretion, but she should have enough information to understand who everyone is in relation to everyone else. When it comes to the older sister, you can include more detail simply because she's read in and is such a big part of Analyst Bartowski's life. Any other questions, comments, concerns?"
"My sister is throwing a small party of sorts at her apartment as a sort of welcome home party for Sarah. At the party, Sarah and I are going to announce our marriage and baby, Ellie is aware of this obviously. I was just wondering how we should handle Agent Rogers' cover? It makes morbid sense to introduce her at the party, where we can control the information and the cover." Sarah and Casey nodded in agreement with Chuck after he finished speaking.
"Given her age, physical appearance, and personality, it makes the most sense for her cover to be Agent Bartowski's younger sister, but I'll let you all hash that out with her tomorrow when she arrives. Anything else?" General Beckman said as she once again went to end the briefing. Upon hearing silence from the team, she ended the call.
"I'm going to work on the inventory of our armory before I have to start my stupid Buy More shift," Casey said with a grumble as he stood and made for the armory. Chuck for his part stood up and went for one of the laptops they had stored around Castle in case that had to work on something. When he returned and sat back down, he gave his wife a smile and the two of them began on the task of creating a dossier. Of course, Chuck had a shift at the Buy More at two o'clock as well, so his help was limited, but he'd promised to come back later and help when he could. For Sarah, she was starting to feel more and more eager to meet this Agent Rogers.
Sarah didn't exactly know why she'd chosen the only junior agent in the folder of agent profiles that the General had given her to choose from, but when Sarah had seen Nora Rogers' file, something had spoken to her. Maybe it was the fact that she was another Graham project, maybe it was their similar backgrounds, maybe it was her looks, or what the profile had said about her time with the agency. Whatever the reason had been for Sarah setting Nora Rogers' profile aside, she was excited to meet this woman. One thing that Sarah did know, was that Agent Rogers had a reputation and a horribly mean nickname. Everyone called her Listerine Girl, likely because of her apparent affinity for giving oral favors to marks. Sarah didn't like that insinuation at all and she knew that if it was true, then Graham had broken the law and the agency owed Nora Rogers an apology.
Sarah knew that the agency likely owed her an official apology for the shit that Graham had made her do under the guise of the greater good. Thankfully she'd never been ordered to use her body to please a man in the service of her country, but she was sure that was only because she'd been aware that he couldn't order her to do that. Who knows what he'd done to this Nora Rogers woman? The more Sarah thought about it all, the more she really wanted to meet Nora Rogers.
~X~
Buy More, Nerd Herd Desk
Burbank, California
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
5:27 PM PST
So far, Chuck's day had been pretty low key all things considered. Jeffster had been in rare form early on, but they'd been out on an install since three, so Chuck's day had been uneventful since then. There were a lot of computers stacking up in the back that needed to be repaired, but Chuck wanted to be out front to watch over things right now. Anna was in the back working on some of the repairs and while she was a serviceable technician, Chuck knew he was the best at it. At present, Chuck was helping a little old lady with her digital point and shoot camera, it was an older model, but the thing still worked and if he could fix it, he'd save her a lot of money that she'd have to spend to replace it.
This woman had gotten the SD card stuck and she couldn't get it out of the camera due to her frail hands. To her credit, Chuck was having trouble with it as well and had actually needed some tools to get the damn thing to budge. "Don't worry, I've almost got it," Chuck muttered as he focused hard on the infernal SD card.
"It's fine, Dear, no rush," the kind old lady said to Chuck who look up to meet her eye briefly. As Chuck looked up, a vision appeared over the short old woman's left shoulder. Five-foot nine inches tall, with legs for days. When he saw her walk in, clad in a grey pencil skirt suit with yellow silk button front shirt and an emerald tie, Chuck couldn't help but follow her with his eyes. He'd never known that his wife even owned a pair of emerald-colored heels, but the full ensemble screamed Buy More and Chuck was a total goner. Her hair was up in a French twist, show off her sleek and toned neck, something Chuck always found sexy. The old lady saw Chuck's attention go somewhere else and she looked over her shoulder, only to see the stunning blonde strut confidently towards the manager's office. When the old lady looked back over at the fine gentleman helping her, she didn't see lust in his eyes… okay she did, but she also saw love and it made her smile a small smile.
"Somebody's got a crush," she said with a smile.
"That's his girlfriend, the lucky bastard," Morgan said as he came up to the Nerd Herd desk. She looked over at Morgan before looking back at the man who'd been helping her. Chuck saw Sarah walk into Big Mike's office, quickly shaking his hand and sitting down for her interview. When Chuck refocused, he looked back over at the old lady and saw her smiling at him.
"She's a lucky girl to have a man who loves her as much as you do," she said to Chuck who shook his head no.
"Trust me, I'm the lucky one here."
"He really is, nobody understands it," Morgan said with a liberal amount of sarcasm.
"Alright! Don't you have some toasters to sell?" Chuck said as he threw a pencil at Morgan who dodged it and ran away laughing. "Ya Gremlin!" Chuck said with a smile as he looked back at the old lady who simply looked amused by the whole thing.
"Like I said, she's the lucky one," she said back to him as he looked back at the camera and returned to his work. Chuck stopped what he was doing and subtly looked around to make sure the coast was clear before he leaned in close and whispered quietly.
"We eloped on Saturday, just haven't told anybody yet," Chuck winked with a smile and got back to work to remove the SD card from the stupid camera. The lady nodded with a smile and watched him do his work. Eventually Chuck managed to pulled the wedged SD card out of the camera and held it up victoriously. "There it is, and it looks just fine," he said as he handed the old lady the SD card and her camera.
He saw her give him a pleased smile. "Thank you, young man," she said to Chuck, who merely nodded and grabbed a pen and a form he had a stack of off to his left. Chuck set the form down on the desk as well as the pen.
"That will be thirty-five dollars and sixty-two cents for the repair, which we can take care of right here. If you're interested, you can fill out this form, grading my performance, while I get you checked out." The old lady went into her purse and pulled out the exact amount of money required, handing it to Chuck, who went about his work. He saw the lady quickly fill out the service review form for him; hopefully she gave him high marks. With the money deposited in the register he had at his Nerd Herd desk, he quickly printed a receipt and handed it to the lady, who gave him an appreciative smile.
"Alrighty, you're all set." She nodded and tucked the receipt into her purse.
"Thank you, very much. Give that woman of yours a kiss, she deserves it!"
"Always," Chuck said with a wink. The old lady turned and walked away, leaving Chuck alone with his thoughts. Sarah was in Big Mike's office nailing her interview right that very second. She'd looked stunning when she'd walked into the Buy More. If that was how she planned on dressing every day for work… Chuck was going to have a LOT of trouble focusing on his work. Chuck had never seen Sarah in professional attire like that and he had to admit, he discovered some things about himself as he watched her strut confidently through the Buy More. Chuck knew he had work he could be doing, but all he really wanted to do was think about what Sarah was talking about in that office. The sound of Anna's voice grabbed Chuck's attention, he spun around and saw her standing there with a nervous look on her face.
"I'm really struggling with this PC, the damage is… everywhere. Why did we agree to fix this thing?" Chuck nodded, feeling kind of bad.
"The father who brought it in said that the computer still functioned, but it needed to be fixed, I knew I could fix it, so I said sure. Why don't you man the desk and I'll go work on the beast in the cage?" Anna nodded thankfully, Chuck gave her a small smile and a pat on the shoulder and walked past her.
"Thanks, Chuck," Anna called after him. As she watched him disappear into the back, she couldn't help but smile, it was good to see him back to his old self. The Taiwanese Nerd Herder didn't know exactly why he was so chipper all of the sudden, but she was glad he wasn't so depressed anymore. When his girlfriend had left, she'd seen him disappear into a pit of depression that she'd never seen from him. There had been many days where she'd worried if he was harming himself or planning to do so, but thankfully nothing like that had come to pass.
"There's my Anna Banana," Morgan said as he came to a stop at the Nerd Herd desk, Anna gave her little bearded beast a saucy smile.
"Hey, hot stuff."
"Did you see her?" Morgan asked in hushed tones, Anna's head turn told him she had not in fact seen "her."
"Who?"
"Sarah!" Anna's eyes opened wide in shock; Morgan nodded. "She's here right now, interviewing to be the new ass man. Lester said he overheard they were talking about her work for the government… classified work." Morgan raised his eyebrows at the implied meaning, his girlfriend nodding. "I can't believe you didn't hear that she's back and apparently here to stay this time."
"I've been sick, I haven't been here, Morgan, not that you noticed…" that last part was said sotto voce.
"I'm sorry, you know that your neighbor scares me, he's always standing around in the hallways… ominously. I don't think he likes me very much." Anna couldn't help but smile. Morgan was such a big baby sometimes, but that was why she liked him. He was someone she could boss around, who liked her for who she really was.
"Tell me that doesn't make a ton of sense, though! She drives a freaking Porsche and yet she's serving wieners and frozen yogurt!? I knew it was too good to be true, I just hope Chuck knows that his girlfriend is a freaking mmphmm…" Once again Morgan's brain didn't think before leaping and she had to race to put a hand over his mouth before he shouted Sarah's secret to the entire store.
"Don't you think she keeps that a secret for a reason?" Morgan nodded, her hand still covering his mouth. "Maybe you shouldn't scream it to the entire store, Morgan!" she saw his eyes grow large as he likely realized what he'd almost done.
"I almost blew her cover," Anna nodded with a serious expression on her face.
"If she's our new boss, then maybe she's retired. Until we know for sure, we need to be very careful around her, there is no telling what she could do." Morgan nodded in agreement.
"Agreed, hopefully we'll get some answers at that dinner party Chuck's sister is throwing tomorrow to welcome Sarah back home." Anna looked at him confused. "I told you about it this morning, Ellie is having everyone over for a celebration, she won't give out any more details." Anna simply nodded, she'd mellowed out when it came to the older sister of Chuck Bartowski, she was a nice woman, who was very much in love with her fiancé.
"Right, that will be the perfect time to get some answers from Sarah. I just hope she sticks around this time; I worry about him if she bolts again," Anna said before she turned her head and glanced back towards the room leading to the back of the store.
"I doubt she'll leave again, but you can never be too sure, I was sure she wouldn't do that to him the first time." Anna and Morgan fell into a quiet silence for a long moment before Anna spoke up.
"So, wanna go make out in the supply closet?" Morgan's eyes perked up significantly at the thought of some make out action with his girlfriend. Like an excited puppy, Morgan nodded eagerly. The two of them quietly snuck away to suck face for a few moments, neither of them on break. They both knew that the very smart Sarah Walker would nail her interview and become their new boss, but she wasn't their boss yet so who cared?
Inside Big Mike's Office…
So far, the portly black man had asked Sarah fairly easy questions in the twenty minutes since she'd sat down. They'd mainly stuck to the pleasantries and the boiler plate stuff, but she had a feeling the tougher questions were coming. "Okay Sarah, let's be serious for a moment, you worked for the government from two-thousand and two until last week… yet you fried wieners and served frozen yogurt for the last two years." Sarah was waiting for a question to appear in there and simply looked at him expectantly. Realizing he wasn't going to get a response without asking a question. "Why?" Sarah smiled a smile that came from deep within her, from a place that Sarah had only recently discovered with her husband.
"Love." Big Mike smiled at her response to his question. "Back in September of two-thousand-seven I made a critical error on a job, details are classified, but I found myself suspended indefinitely. At the time, I thought my career was over, so I moved to LA purely for a change of scenery. When I met Chuck, I was instantly drawn to him and I knew I needed to stay here and get to know this man. When Chuck and I started dating, I decided to get that job at the Wienerlicious to be close to him. By now it should be obvious that I didn't exactly need that job, considering I drive a Porsche, but I wanted to be closer to him." Big Mike nodded and looked at her hand, noticing the lack of a wedding band on her finger.
"So, why'd you leave?" Sarah's mood darkened quickly as she remembered that horrible time, the night her future died. For his part, he saw the shift in her mood quickly and regretted the question.
"I was recalled back to my old job, it had been nearly two years and I'd honestly left that life behind, but orders are orders and both Chuck and I knew how important my old job was to me. I left and returned to my old job, which was a miserable six weeks. Over this past weekend, Chuck and I ran into each other while I was working here in LA. Seeing each other again, it showed me what was really the most important thing to me, which was Chuck. I quit my government job, moved back to Burbank for good, and Chuck and I got married on Saturday. I mentioned all of this, because I need you to understand what really happened to Chuck and I. The most important things in my life are my husband, and the family we're starting together. In order to do that, I need a new career, and this place made morbid sense to the both of us." Big Mike nodded quietly, a little shocked by her honesty.
"Why should I hire you to be the new assistant manager?"
"Well, I've worked on teams with people all over the world, I'm experienced in collaborative work in high stress environments. Obviously, the work is highly classified, but it wasn't uncommon for me to lead teams of people in high stress situations where mistakes could be fatal. At this point in my life, it takes a lot to phase me, I mean, Jeff and Lester are unlike anything I've ever seen, so who knows when it comes to them, but I think I'm ideally suited to bring a level headed approach to this job. On top of my work experience, I have a degree from Harvard in International Business and linguistics, so I'd like to think I'm highly qualified for this job in that sense as well."
"Linguistics? Does that mean you can speak multiple languages?" he asked suddenly curious. Sarah simply smiled at him and nodded.
"Yes, I'm fluent in five languages and passable in another five. I'm fluent in English, Spanish, German, French, and Polish. I'm passable in Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Russian, and Swedish. Though it is worth mentioning that I haven't had to use many of them in a long time." Big Mike was impressed and it showed on his face.
"I know your résumé says you were an Operations Coordinator for the Defense Department, but I think I know what you really were, but we won't talk about that…" Big Mike said as he looked down at her résumé to no doubt stall and collect himself after the revelation of what Sarah actually used to do as far as he knew. She knew that it was going to be an open secret that she was a former spy in her old life, that was fine with Sarah, it would help establish her authority among the employees at the Buy More.
"I know people will likely figure that out eventually, but you're right, we aren't going to talk about that." Big Mike simply nodded, noticing the coldness in her voice, a shift that was very stark and sharp. "That was my old life, now I'm just a wife and an expecting mother looking to build a life with a wonderful man." Big Mike nodded with a small smile.
"Congratulations, my ex-wife couldn't have children, so I'm happy for you and Bartowski. Speaking of Bartowski, will you be able to stay professional with your husband being your subordinate?" Sarah took great effort not to bristle at the question, she'd spent the last two years trying her hardest to "stay professional" with her husband, she was a veritable expert at the subject!
"Of course, I don't like to look at it as a boss and worker relationship, but more of a collaboration where I help facilitate an environment where everyone can succeed in their role. At the same time, I will rely on my supervisors to make sure the place runs smoothly, but I'll still harbor an environment of hard work and accountability." Big Mike nodded. "To be honest, Chuck should have become Assistant Manager a year ago. Chuck has the respect of every employee at the Buy More, so I trust him explicitly to run the Nerd Herd. It is our close relationship and trust that is going to help turn this place into the beacon of excellence that I see it becoming. Emmitt was a bully, and he hated Chuck for some reason. Harry Tang was a tyrant that harbored an environment of fear. I won't do either of those things. I will lead with respect, because I always found that respect was the best way to build relationships among members of a team." As she spoke, she could see the change in Big Mike, she knew she'd already nailed this interview. It was plain to see that he was used to a lesser caliber of leadership from his Assistant Manager's, something Sarah Bartowski was most decidedly not.
"What are your long-term goals for the Buy More?" Sarah contemplated that question for a long moment before speaking.
"Honestly, I'd like people to enjoy working here again. Chuck tells me that the assistant manager before Harry Tang, I think Chuck said his name was Don, was a nice man, and this place was a fun place to work. I want to bring that environment back; I don't want our employees to dread coming to work every day. If this place is an unpleasant workplace, our staff turnover will be worse, which is never a good thing." Big Mike nodded with a nostalgic smile as he remembered Don, the man who'd retired back in September of two-thousand and seven. He'd been a friend of Big Mike's for a long time. "Other than that, I'd like to see Burbank beat Beverly Hills Branch in sales, I think you and I can do that together. We have great people at this store, all we need is leadership to turn this place around." The passion in Sarah's eyes swayed Big Mike and he gave her a pleased smile and stood up, extending his hand, which she shook.
"I've heard enough, you've got the job, Sarah. I haven't had someone with a vision in that position since Don retired, like you mentioned. Your story is interesting, and your skill set looks to bring new ideas to this place. If you do half as good a job as I think you will, then we will absolutely beat those pretentious bastards in Beverly Hills." Sarah nodded with a beaming smile and shook his hand.
"Excellent, I can't wait to get started," she said as she collected her things to leave. As Big Mike watched his new Assistant Manager prepare to leave, he got a sly smile on his face and spoke once again.
"We'll get you started on Monday, the eighteenth." Sarah nodded.
"I can't wait," Sarah said as she moved towards the door.
"So, be honest for a moment," Sarah looked back towards her new cover boss with a smile. "It really won't be problem with your marriage that you're going to be bossing Bartowski around all the time?" Sarah actually giggled as she thought of her answer.
"Who says I don't do that already?" The sly, saucy, smirk on her face made Big Mike crack up and shake his head.
"You've got brains and wit; we're going to get along really well. Now I've just got to figure out what I'm going to call you, I can't call both of you Bartowski, it'd be too confusing." The way Big Mike said that last part almost to himself as he sat back down made her chuckle. As Sarah opened the door, she turned back to Big Mike.
"I'm assuming, Sarah is out of the question?" he simply nodded. "Then I guess you'll just have to come up with something, see you on Monday, Mike," she winked at him and left him there to contemplate his overly complicated dilemma of his own creation.
In the Cage…
It felt good to be in the cage, up to his elbows in computer parts. It had been over a week since Chuck had just gone back into the cage and worked on fixing someone's computer. He was good at this; he was the best at this. Currently, Chuck was repairing the damage from a terrible tornado of five-year-old destruction. Somehow a five-year-old boy had kicked a disk drive out of place, into the tower, causing extensive destruction to the rest of the computer. The owner of the computer had paid for the replacement parts, and with their arrival earlier today, Chuck was busy installing all of the new parts.
Chuck couldn't help but wonder how his wife's interview was going. She'd looked like a million bucks when she'd walked into the Buy More, hell maybe even two million. If she was going to dress like that every day for work, Chuck was going to be taking many cold showers going forward, literally thousands of them. If he was being honest with himself, he'd never known he was attracted to the sexy business look, but he sure as shit knew it now.
The sound of heels click clacking on the polished concrete floor made Chuck smile, it would appear that his wife's interview was finished. "This is an employee's only area, Ma'am," Chuck said teasingly without looking up from his work. He caught the scent of her perfume first, hints of jasmine and orange blossom. When a pair of arms encircled Chuck from behind and soft lips kissed him behind the ear, he knew exactly what to say next. "Oh, Lester, you're so affectionate today." Sarah chuckled and backed away. Chuck's smile was unmistakable, as was the hard punch in the shoulder from Sarah.
"Ow!" Chuck yelled in shock. "Spousal abuse!"
"You jerk, you called me Lester!" the anger in Sarah's voice was very clearly fake, which was only confirmed when Chuck turned around and saw the smile on Sarah's face. Sarah walked forward and stepped between Chuck's legs as he sat on his stool. Chuck felt Sarah lace her fingers behind Chuck's neck and pulled him in for another kiss, her tongue quickly invading his mouth. She heard Chuck moan into her mouth as her body pressed into his, pushing him against his work bench. She could feel his hardness against her body, signaling his enjoyment of the moment. Sarah broke the kiss and began trailing kisses up Chuck's neck, all the way to his ear. She knew it always drove him wild when she did that.
"I'm sorry," she breathed into his ear, getting a shudder in response.
"What for?"
"For giving you blue balls in a few minutes," she said and pulled back from him. He could see the contrite look on her face. "I got you all revved up, and I can't follow through." Chuck saw the pout on her face and he simply chuckled.
"You've had the job for five minutes and already, you've physically assaulted and sexually harassed me, you're off to a great start, Mrs. Bartowski." Sarah saw him flirt back at her and she couldn't help but smile at him evilly.
"My reign of terror has just begun, Nerd." Chuck laughed hard, his head rolling back.
"Seriously though, since we got married this is the first time I've gotten you all hot and bothered and just left you there, it isn't right." Chuck just snorted and pulled his wife in close.
"I guess you'll just have to make it up to me tonight when we get home."
"Will that be before or after you follow through on rewarding me for killing it in that interview?" she quirked her eyebrow as she finished, her finger tracing little circles on her husband's chest.
"I'll leave that up to you, you know what I'd ask for." Sarah blushed, knowing exactly what he was referring to. Chuck saw her nod, her cheeks an adorable rosy color.
"Who knew something so simple would blow your mind so much," Sarah commented with a pleased smile on her face.
"I don't think it was my mind that was blown." She didn't want to laugh at that, it was crude and perverted and so not like Chuck, but it had been hilarious. On the other hand, she had noticed he was much freer and more honest about sex with her the more they'd gotten to know each other. With comfort had come confidence, and that confidence was positively sexy for Sarah Bartowski. Sarah wasn't a woman normally drawn to confidence, but confidence from Chuck was simply intoxicating. "That was funny, but I'm not laughing at that out of principle," Sarah said quietly, a look of mock seriousness on her face. Chuck couldn't help it and chuckled once again, but his laughs were silenced by Sarah's lips as she kissed him. "Who would have thought that you'd get a mouth like Carina after a little sex? Certainly not me." Chuck quirked an eyebrow at her strange comment. "Though to be honest, she has too much of a gag reflex to do what you're referencing."
Chuck gave Sarah a look of genuine shock in response to Sarah's frank comment about Carina, Sarah merely nodded. "That girl is a total light weight, all talk, and it drove her crazy while we were on the CATS together." She saw the flash and blushed, knowing Chuck was about to learn some stuff.
"Wow…" he said blankly as his mind replayed that surveillance footage from Berlin over and over and over.
"Berlin?" He merely nodded in confirmation of her question. "I don't usually go that far on assignments. I've never, ever gone anywhere close to that far with a man, but with Carina, Zondra, or Amy, there were a few times…" Sarah let that hang in the air, with a smirk on her face. She knew this was a mean way to tease a man; girl on girl being every man's fantasy after all, but it was too much fun to stop. "Carina was a pro about it, Zondra, being gay, had absolutely no problem with it," Sarah said with a chuckle. "She was almost too eager." She stuck her tongue out between her teeth in amusement as she saw his flustered face and obvious arousal, the poor, helpless nerd.
"Zondra and Amy had very little trouble grabbing the diamond off of our mark while Carina and I were up on stage that night in Berlin." She could see Chuck's eyes glaze over. He was a great guy who didn't objectify women, but he was still a man at the end of the day and she couldn't fault him for thinking what he was thinking.
"There was so much baby oil… even in black and white… it was just… wow." She blushed and snorted as her head came to a rest on Chuck's shoulder. She could see what effect that flash had on his state of arousal, if he hadn't been on fire before, he was ten feet from the sun at this point.
"I still have that school girl outfit somewhere in my closet in DC. I don't even know if I'd fit in the top now that I'm pregnant, I barely fit in it back then." Chuck gulped and Sarah simply gave him another kiss. "Have fun with that mental image, I've got to get back to work on that dossier. Why don't you go finger some computers to take your mind off of… Warsaw." Sarah turned around and walked away from her husband, who was busy flashing on yet another sordid story from the year she spent with the CATS. A story she'd never discussed with anyone but her fellow CATS. As she left the room, she heard his voice from the cage.
"What was the dog collar and the mannequin hand for!?"
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #3: What was the dog collar and the mannequin hand for!? Can you imagine flashing on something like that? Especially at work, talk about a.. ahem *hard* situation (slides on sunglasses.) That is going to come up next chapter when Chuck and Sarah have an overdue conversation about sex in the spy life. My aim with the coming arcs is to expand on the world in my way, i'll use the existing lore in certain ways, but in other respects, I want to bring my own style to Chuck and Sarah's world. When it comes to sex, I wanted to bring a little more grounded view of it to this universe. Although, we're still a bit fanciful, if only because of Graham's crooked ways.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #4: Figure I'll give all of you wonderful readers a little update on my progress for the third arc. Truthfully I haven't made much progress. The month of May is always busy for me as a diehard fan of Indycar racing. I've been spending many days following the goings on at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the lead up to the Indianapolis 500 this coming weekend. This year will be my fifteenth year attending the race since my dad took me in two-thousand and seven. This would be sixteen if not for stupid COVID-19, fucking 2020... Anyway, I expect June to be more productive. For those interested in the 106th Indianapolis 500, it'll be on NBC on Sunday, May 29th, 2022 at noon eastern time. This year saw the fastest ever four lap average qualifying speed from the legendary driver Scott Dixon of New Zealand. His qualifying speed was a four lap average of 234.046 miles per hour(!) which is just insanely fast. Anyway, I'm freaking pumped to return to the speedway and sweat my ass off for three hours lol.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #5: For those interested, I made a YouTube playlist with all 19 songs that inspired all of the chapters in this story so far! Just add this to the end of the YouTube URL!
playlist?list=PLp8GmTvT_x4h2ZKZBxNM_2OYgt-u1pieK
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #6: Alrighty, that was chapter sixteen, if you wish to opine (comment), then please leave a review. I adore reading what all fo you think and what all of you imagine is going to happen next. Seeing your reviews is really the only way I have of receiving feedback on large scale, so I really appreciate it when you all leave review. Thank you all for sticking with me on this epic journey that we're all on with this story, I couldn't have done it without all of you.
Until Next Time :D