A/N: Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter. Sorry it's taken me so long to deliver this next one. Hope it's worth the wait.

Thanks to Captainrick944 who beta'd this for me, improving it as he always does. When I published my last chapter of this story, he'd only released 14 chapters of his brilliant "Orion Cyber Security Systems." Today, he published chapter 34!

Here, in this gentle romance, Chuck and Sarah are about to spend their third day together…

Shot
Chapter 3: Alternative date

It had only been two days since her release from the hospital, after the knee operation, so she shouldn't really be this pissed off that she wasn't completely back to normal. It was hard not to be, though. Today was the last full day that she would have with Chuck before he started his working week tomorrow. Then, it would be five days until the weekend before she'd have another full day with him. So, time was precious today.

She tried not to think how desperate that sounded.

She had never needed anyone before like she felt her need for Chuck Bartowski. Where was the self-sufficient, totally independent woman of the last ten years?

She tried to convince herself that it was her two injuries that were making her like this, but that wasn't going to wash. She had had worse injuries before and coped on her own.

Hell, she'd even managed to look after herself for nine days in Thailand, with two bullets in her other shoulder, that she couldn't reach to remove, along with a broken rib and a fractured femur. In spite of the excruciating pain, she evaded capture in that swamp from the men after her, surviving alone on raw animal flesh and dirty water. Sure, help then would've been great, but she hadn't actually needed it. She just waited for the scheduled pick-up.

Here, she's not been on her own, apart from at nighttime, but with that loveable nerd, and when he's not with her, she's just thinking about him and when she'll see him next!

They'd not labeled their relationship, but in her head, this was the first time she'd seen someone as a boyfriend or herself as a girlfriend. Sure, she'd had flings, and she had been with Bryce for months, but that was when they were working together and therefore had to be together. The fact that they'd slept together didn't make them in a serious relationship.

She stopped herself there. She'd had post-mission sex with Bryce for the tension and stress relief, but not seen that as a strong relationship, but had spent less than two days with Chuck and a small amount of kissing, and she was seeing him as a boyfriend? What was wrong with her? Or, more to the point, what magical hold did he have over her?

Whatever!

She studiously avoided thinking about her suitability as a girlfriend for this kind, open and adorable guy. At the back of her mind, she knew that she wasn't good enough for him, but she was starting a new life here, a fresh start. Maybe the new Sarah Walker would be better, be worth his time. She really hoped so.

She looked at her watch; 8:55. He would be here soon to take her out. That had a nice ring to it.

She looked in the full-length mirror to check her appearance.

Today she had decided to wear a dress. 'Decided' was probably not the right way of saying why she was attired as she was; 'reduced to' would describe the situation better. She wasn't going to wear that skirt again and had no other, so a dress was really the only option, other than swimwear, which didn't seem appropriate for going out sightseeing.

She hated that her knee dressing was on display for everyone to see, but scoffed at herself for being so vain. Appearance had been essential in her job, but now it wasn't. She still wanted to look as good as she could for Chuck.

She had already checked her makeup three times in the bathroom mirror, but once more in this mirror wasn't too much, was it?

She'd managed to conceal the bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep, and she had to admit that the face staring back at her did look pretty good.

She eased herself down onto the chair, taking the weight off her knee, and tried to calm her nerves. As a CIA operative, she had never had nerves when meeting marks or other agency partners, but here, when just waiting to see this friend of hers, she definitely was. It seemed ridiculous. He wasn't going to judge her; he'd already shown he wasn't like that. However, she knew it was because he didn't really know her past; what she was.

Chuck knew she was an ex-CIA operative but knew no details of what she had done. She had said she didn't like to talk about that part of her life, and he respected that, asking no questions. If she wanted a relationship with him, and, being totally honest with herself for once, she really did, then she would have to open up and tell him about that blood-filled time. He may not want to be with her after that, and she would have to cope with that, but part of her new life was about honesty; she wasn't going to lie to him, and she didn't want her dark past to hang over her anymore.

All this was still swirling around in her head when he knocked on her door.

Another day with the most amazing woman he had ever met. She wasn't just stunningly beautiful, although she was, but she was fascinating to talk to and, unbelievably, was interested in him. That wasn't just what he had to say or thought, but in him as a person. She had even kissed him. Not him kissing her, she kissed him. He could still feel her soft lips on his, even now, over twelve hours since it had happened. That memory would last a long time for him.

Today, she had asked him to show her Los Angeles. He had no idea where he would take her. He had difficulty thinking about anything other than Sarah Walker herself. Just thinking about her appearance took his mind off of other things. Her wonderful figure, those gorgeous long and shapely legs, her beautiful face, and most of all, those mesmerizing cerulean blue eyes, eyes that drew him and didn't seem to want to let go.

She wasn't just a beautiful shell, though. She was interesting too. Of course, she could talk absolute rubbish, and he would listen to her melodious voice, soothing him, making him feel everything was right with the world.

He knew, almost as soon as he met her, that he was falling for her, but now, less than forty hours since they met, he knew he had fallen completely under her spell. He was a complete goner.

He walked to her door, hoping today would go as well as the previous two days and he wouldn't blow it. That she would enjoy another day with him, and he would pluck up the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend. Sure, she liked him and had even kissed him, but that may have just been a thank you kiss as far as she was concerned, not an "I want you as a boyfriend" kiss.

He knocked on her door and very quickly she opened it.

He froze. There before him was that beautiful woman, but in that blue-patterned sundress, showing off her gorgeous arms and legs, she was absolutely breathtaking.

When she reached forward and put a finger under his chin and pushed up, closing his mouth, he realized that it had dropped open in seeing this vision.

He refocused on her beautiful face and that amused expression. "I take it I look alright?" she teased.

"Stunning," was all he could say.

She beamed at him. "Thank you, Chuck. You know how to make a girl feel good about herself. I was worried that showing my knee would be off-putting."

He looked down at that leg, noticing the state of her knee for the first time this morning. "I didn't even notice the dressing until you drew my attention to it, Sarah. Your legs are gorgeous."

She leaned closer and gave him a peck on his lips. "Thank you. You look really good yourself." She stood back to pick up her handbag. Looking back at him, she smiled again, "I'm ready for my third date, Chuck."

Suddenly, she looked a bit flustered, obviously thinking about third date expectations. He smiled and reached for her hand. "I don't think like that, Sarah. I have no expectations. If you ever decide you want… that. I would love it, I'm sure, but I just want to be with you, whatever we do."

She held his gaze for a good twenty seconds. He had realized her panic. It wasn't that she didn't want that with him, but she just hadn't thought about it. With her knee how it was, she wasn't sure she could enjoy it, anyway. Now I'm thinking about it, damn it!

She knew already that she wanted him and his sister in her life going forward. Not in the same way, but she felt they were just what she needed in her new life. Ellie as a friend and, yes, Chuck as a lover, but not just a sexual partner, as a real boyfriend. In less than two days, she felt like she had met the man she wanted to be with. Was that crazy? Did people fall for each other so fast? She certainly felt so with her and Chuck Bartowski.

However, he had just brought up the topic of sex. Well, maybe her thoughts had brought it up, and he had run with it. Whatever the reason, it was now there between them, with him just about dismissing it. "Wow. Not sure how to take that, Chuck."

He frowned and tried to explain himself. "Sarah, you must see how enamored I am with you. To be honest, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I first saw you. I think you like me, but I don't want to force myself upon you, and stupid ideas like what happens after each date shouldn't make you feel you have to do something you don't want." He looked down at her knee briefly. "Besides, I certainly wouldn't want to do anything that might cause you pain."

God, he says all the right things!

She placed her hands around his neck and pulled herself up to kiss him fully on his lips. A tender kiss that conveyed, she hoped, how he made her feel.

He looked a bit shell-shocked as she dropped back onto her heels. She patted his chest and said, "Something to look forward to, then."

She had to shake him out of his frozen state after that so that they could go out.

She sat back down onto her couch, grumbling like mad.

They'd almost reached his car, with her happily chatting to him, when she stepped on a stone, and her knee had twisted causing shooting pains to shoot through it. She stumbled to the floor, dropping the crutch in the process.

Why, oh why did I not concentrate while walking?

The only good thing about it was how Chuck scooped her up and carried her back to her room. He still held her as she pulled out her key and unlocked the door. Then, he carried her in. Why her stupid brain suddenly thought of being carried across the threshold, was beyond her. Of course, her brain went to about what happened after that, and she had to squash those thoughts down.

He carefully placed her down on her couch, making sure the injured leg was placed gently down.

She glared at that knee. As she thought back over her years in the CIA and the injuries she'd worked through, it was a reminder that she'd become weak, pathetic even. However, back then, she'd had to push on just to survive. Now, she didn't need to do that. She had to recover mobility in the normal way. Trying to do too much would probably just delay recovery.

This, of course, had a negative impact on the day. As she saw it, her date with Chuck Bartowski needed to be rearranged, as she was in no state to go walking anywhere now.

"I'm sorry, Chuck. This rules out a day of sight-seeing for me," she told him. "Sorry to ruin your plans."

"That's not a problem, Sarah." He then looked a bit sheepish. "I didn't have anything specific planned. I was going to play it by ear."

She stared at him slack-jawed. "I plan everything." The words just spilled out of her mouth.

He looked wryly at her. "So, everything always went to plan in your job?"

She knew he was teasing but kept a straight face as she replied, "Planning does include how to cope with variations to plan. Ever heard of contingency planning?"

He grinned. "Touché," he replied but couldn't resist saying, "So, what's your contingency plan today?"

She just held his gaze and said, "Today's plan was just 'be with this great guy and enjoy myself.' My contingency plan was to stay home, on my own, and feel miserable." She avoided saying that today's plan was his, to let him decide everything. That put too much pressure on him to resolve this mess.

Chuck liked her comment, apart from the contingency bit, but he knew the planning for today was his responsibility, so he said, "I didn't have a contingency plan, but I can adapt to change. If you can't go out, I will bring the date to you." He thought for a second, then added, "I could bring some DVDs if you like. We could watch something."

She loved the sound of that, but there was a problem. "I'm not sure, Chuck. I think I need to keep my knee up rather than sit watching."

"I'll sort it," Chuck replied. "Don't you worry."

She thought this man could probably do just that. "Okay…"

"What sort of thing do you want to watch?" Was his next question.

She had no qualms saying, "Well, as we watched the first, uh fourth, Star Wars movie, what about the next one?"

God, this woman is so perfect, he thought, asking to watch Star Wars.

However, she had been so keen on the idea that she'd not thought of the reason it wouldn't work. "Err, there's a problem with this, Chuck." She felt so foolish only saying it now. "I have a television but not a DVD player."

"Oh, I know. I can bring that when I bring the DVDs."

"Great. We can order in food too." She was getting really excited about their movie date.

"I'll bring some other movies, too," Chuck said and headed out.

She ordered some soft drinks to be sent up to the room. She knew what he liked now, and she would happily share them with him. She'd considered moving things around so they could sit together on chairs, but ruled that out because she really needed her leg up. They'd both have pillows up against the headboard and sit there.

There was a knock at the door, and she made her way over to it. It was the soft drinks. "Could you put them in the fridge for me, please?"

The boy did that and got a tip.

As she was closing the door, she noticed Chuck walking along the corridor. He had a backpack, presumably containing DVDs, and was carrying a DVD player and cables. She swung the door open wide, and he walked in. "Hi, Sarah."

"Hi, Chuck," she replied. "Thanks for agreeing to do this rather than the trip out."

He stopped. "Sarah, as I said, I didn't have anything specific planned. In fact, I'd started to panic that I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't involve a lot of walking."

That made her like him even more. He was so caring. She just grinned. "So, my knee made it easier for you."

He grinned back, then walked to by the television to set up the DVD player. He had, "The Empire Strikes Back," ready to watch in no time.

She offered drinks, and he said he'd get them because she should put her leg up. How does he keep doing this? Surprising me with his kindness.

She climbed on the bed and settled into position. Chuck brought the drinks, placing hers on the bedside cabinet beside her. He ran around the bed and hopped on, making the mattress shudder, but not enough to unsettle her.

"Ready?" he asked. She happily nodded, and he pressed play.

As they sat eating the pizza that had been delivered for lunch, Sarah thought about the last two hours they had spent watching together.

They had started it with both sitting back, leaning on individual pillows, separated by a gap of a couple of inches. But that hadn't felt right, so she'd gotten him to stop the movie, and she leaned forward while he moved the two pillows closer to each other. Then, the two of them had snuggled together. "Perfect," she'd commented as he pressed play again.

"So, hiding from Vader had been pointless," she commented.

"But they had to try, didn't they," he replied.

"And then Vader claims to be Luke's father!" she exclaimed. Then, she thought about her dad and said without thinking, "Why are father's always disappointments or less than you expect?" Then, she remembered what Chuck had said about his parents and clapped her hand over her mouth as if that would stop the last words escape. "Sorry. Yours might have been great until he left."

He shook his head, "No, you were right. A disappointment, for sure."

As he didn't offer more, she concluded he didn't want to talk about his dad further. She could understand that. She felt the same about her dad. Not only that, if she asked for more, he would definitely ask about her parents. Best to avoid the whole parent topic.

She decided to ask something else that had intrigued her. "Ellie told me you only had each other when you came to LA. Her words were, 'If it hadn't been for one woman's kindness, it would have been so much harder.' Who was this woman?"

Chuck seemed to come out of his melancholic state. He smiled. "Sophia Hernandez." His eyes sparkled, thinking about her. "She was a widow who lived in a large apartment near the one Ellie had found for us. She kind of adopted us. We couldn't afford to stay in the one-bedroomed one. The money we had brought with us only paid for the first six months. Not only that, Ellie was able to make herself look older, but she didn't look like a mom. We went to live with Sophia. She would attend parent's evenings as our parent, but she was so much more than just that surrogate."

He looked down. "When she died, it felt like we'd lost a parent, though." His face hardened, "'Lost: died,' rather than 'lost: abandoned us.'"

She felt she had to ask after that. "Do you want to talk about them?"

"Not really," he replied. "I sense you don't like talking about yours either."

She shook her head. "No."

This had really taken the shine off of their conversation. He didn't want her to be anything but happy, and she had seemed to like the movie. "Want to watch the last in the trilogy?" he asked, looking hopeful.

She did find the story intriguing and did want to watch the next one, but his enthusiasm for it just appealed to her, making it feel even more attractive. "Yes, please."

She had to admit, she probably would have watched any movie with him. Snuggling with Chuck Bartowski made viewing so much better. She loved how his arm around her made her feel wanted. She also loved his scent. She could stay like this forever if it wasn't for bodily needs drawing her to the bathroom or to eat.

It wasn't just that she'd never had this with anyone before; there was something really attractive about this kind man who, it seemed, would do almost anything to help her.

Some of this movie was less captivating, particularly the parts focusing on the Ewoks, so she did find herself thinking like this.

In her time with the CIA, she'd never had downtime. With no other interests, she'd avoided it, but having pretty much burnt out by doing that for so long, along with the disillusionment in the last six months, she'd decided to leave, effectively putting her on permanent downtime until she found an alternative career.

She'd also never gotten close to anyone in all those years. Sure, she'd been with men, but only very brief encounters, one-night stands, as they were called. She'd also had similar nights with male agents she'd worked with, but nothing permanent. So, she'd never experienced this type of experience, just chilling out together.

She was, in a way, glad the day out had been abandoned. This was so much better.

The movie picked up and drew her back in.

As the credits ran on the screen, Chuck, with his arm still around her, asked, "So, what do you think?"

She wanted to look at his face. The one downside of snuggling as she had was that she couldn't look into those appealing brown eyes of his. She moved away to face him.

"I enjoyed it, and it did wrap up the story well. Maybe a bit too much, perhaps. The dad's ghost between the two of them was a bit over the top."

He hadn't expected any criticism, so that was a bit of a surprise, but then this woman was an ex-spy and had seen a much darker side of life than him.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Chuck?"

He hadn't expected that question. He thought about it for a few seconds. He had wondered if his dad had killed himself in grief over his mom never returning or had been killed and wondered whether he would ever find out, but him returning as a ghost? No. Although that would have given him some answers. "No, Sarah, I don't. In Star Wars, ghosts do return, either to advise or bless. I wish that happened here."

She couldn't let this go. "Chuck, talk to me. Tell me what makes you say that."

He sighed. He'd said too much and gotten himself into this. It wasn't fair on Sarah to throw that out and then clam up.

"My dad left four years after my mom. That was physically leaving, but I think he mentally left us when Mom left. None of us knew why she did that, and he spent most of his time searching for her, but never succeeded. Or at least, that's what we thought. Maybe he found out where she was, and that was why he left. She was more important to him than we were. I just wish he'd told us, just like I wish Mom had told us her reason."

He briefly smiled. "Ellie sometimes used to say I talk so much as a form of overcompensation for their lack of words."

Sarah took his hand to show sympathy. Or at least she hoped it conveyed that.

"Since then, I've wondered if he is dead, maybe Mom too. If he killed himself in grief over failing to find Mom, wouldn't that be a reason for him to be stuck here as a ghost? If they existed? If so, he'd have to come back to us and explain himself, wouldn't he?"

This was worse than she'd expected. She didn't really know what that was, but she hadn't even considered that he might not even know whether his parents were alive. This was so much worse than knowing her dad was in prison.

"Of course, if he had been murdered, killed when he shouldn't have died, he's come back as a ghost, then, as well, wouldn't he?" Chuck shook his head at the stupidity of such a concept.

What he didn't see was Sarah's haunted look, hearing his words. She thought of all the ghosts that she'd created over the years. She had to push those thoughts down. Not things she wanted to ever think about again.

She focused her attention on Chuck and his feelings. She moved to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, Chuck."

He pulled back and looked surprised. "Why? None of this is your fault."

"I'm sorry you carry this with you," she replied.

"I try not to think about them," he commented.

"And I made you. I'm sorry about that too, Chuck."

He gripped her hands. "You didn't know."

"You had already said you didn't want to talk about them, and I pushed you to do so." She was upset with herself. "Some friend, huh?"

He shook his head, making her think he agreed with her. She turned away, but he didn't let her go. "Sarah, I have friends that know about this and some that don't, who I would never tell. I would tell you anything you wanted. I've never felt so connected to anyone before. I have never been this happy, Sarah, and that's all because of you."

His words brought tears to her eyes. No one had ever said anything like that to her, apart from her mom, who Sarah had walked away from. She didn't think she had ever actually made anyone happy before. Then she thought about how happy he made her feel.

She had to make him know this. "Chuck, you make me happy too." That wasn't enough. She placed her palms on his cheeks and kissed him. She didn't open her mouth because she was sure that lying on this bed would definitely lead to something her knee was absolutely not up to. But that didn't stop her from wanting it.

She pulled away and apologized. "Chuck, I want to be your girlfriend, if you'll have me, but I need to stop kissing you now." She decided to be clearer, something she wasn't good at. "When my knee is better, maybe my shoulder too, we can have a full relationship." Was that clear enough?

He was still smiling from the kiss, but her words did get through. "Sarah, I absolutely want to be your boyfriend. Nothing could make me happier. And we can have 'a full relationship' without what you are implying." He then grinned. "besides, this bed won't be available to us soon."

She grinned at that comment and teased, "I could rent the room occasionally. For nights of passion."

His eyes glazed for a few seconds. Then he grinned and remarked, "I wish you hadn't said that, Sarah. My mind is going to be full of it now."

She burst out laughing at that. "Something to look forward to? And it won't have to be here."

He groaned, and she hugged him. "Thank you for everything, Chuck. I suspect you've been better than most boyfriends already."

He frowned. "Suspect?"

She smiled, but there was a hint of sadness as she said, "I've never had one before."

He was shocked and couldn't stop his mouth. "Someone as beautiful as you? Not had a boyfriend? I can't believe it."

"When do you think I had time for boyfriends, Chuck?"

He thought about the job she'd described. "You didn't have downtime?"

"No." She didn't want to say why, though.

"Well, your first boyfriend is going to be with you as much as he can," he declared.

That earned him another kiss. "Thank you, Chuck."

She then thought about her knee and it needing to get better. "I start my physio treatment tomorrow, so knee recovery starts then."

"I can take you there," he offered immediately.

Sarah sighed. "Chuck, I don't need you to do everything for me. I can get a taxi."

"Sarah, I want to do this," he declared.

"Don't you have a job to go to?" she asked.

"Yes, but you are more important," he replied.

She held his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I am not more important than you keeping your job." She held his gaze to make sure he got this. The romantic gesture was lovely but completely over the top.

"I- I can get time off," he tried to convince her.

She wasn't having any of this. "Chuck, the appointment's at 2:15 pm. You'd lose your whole afternoon. I won't let you do that," she stated firmly.

Chuck didn't like it, but she was right about his job. He hadn't been doing it long enough to get leeway on hours. "Is it at that time each day?" he asked.

"This is an initial appointment. They'll probably set up the schedule tomorrow."

"If it is at this time each day, I could at least take you there, and you get a taxi home. If later, you could get a taxi there, and I collect you." He was sure this could work.

She could see the determination in his eyes. It was a bit overwhelming having someone so willing to help her. She had definitely never experienced it before. Placing a palm on his cheek, she replied, "If you're sure. It's a huge imposition."

"Not for my girlfriend," he said, gazing into her eyes, still amazed she wanted him.

She gave him another kiss. "Thank you, Chuck. You are really special."

She was still amazed that her life had changed so much. She'd thought it would be hard to adapt to civilian life, but this wonderful man, and his sister, had made it not just easy but unbelievably good.

She was so happy right now. It almost made her want to contact her mom to tell her. Her mom would be so happy, but it would remind both they couldn't see each other. Best to just continue as they were and not think such thoughts.

A/N: Hints at their parents' stories and things to explore further, including the need to talk about her own past. This gentle start was just what they both needed, though.

If you feel up to leaving a review, I'd be very grateful.