A/N: Thanks for your patience, gentle readers. I missed last Saturday's chapter drop. As some of you know, after more than two years covid finally visited my family. Both my wife and son got it and my head was entirely in the wrong place to visit with Chuck and Sarah (and especially not with Jack Burton). My family is fine now, thank goodness and thank the creators of the vaccines. Somehow, knock wood, I managed to avoid catching the bug. Anyway, as I hope you know, I have tried to maintain a steady pace in producing this story and usually can manage to do so, but last week just got away from me. Thanks for coming back and for all your good wishes in the meantime.
A/N2: Jack Burton would like to sell you ownership of Chuck. Payment in untraceable cryptocurrency, if you wouldn't mind (or, given what's happening in that space, maybe cash is preferred).
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Sarah sat with her phone on the edge of the courtyard fountain in the cooling early evening and entered a number.
"Hello," said a man's slightly gravelly voice.
"Hi, Dad."
A slight chuckle followed by a happy sigh. "Hi, Darlin'."
"How are you?" she asked.
"Happy to talk to you. Happy to stretch my legs. Get back to my life."
"How was it?" she asked.
"Could've been worse. I was relatively safe from Hernandez and his crew. Food sucked, but that's life, I guess. Made some friends. Made some...not friends. You know how it is. How are you? Been a long time. Graham says you're good."
"I am, Dad. I'm great. Really great. I know I didn't reach out to you..."
"No, no, no. You did the right thing. There was no telling who might have been watching me. Absolutely the right thing. Smart. I was delighted you didn't, as weird as that may sound. Are you looking over your shoulder about anything at the moment?" His way of asking if she had any outstanding warrants against her anywhere under whatever name. Someplace she wouldn't chance with a visit.
"No. Nowhere. I'm in the clear," she said with a small smile, shaking her head at the way her dad was automatically thinking.
"I knew you'd be smart. That's my girl. What name?"
"Walker. Sarah Walker."
He chuckled again. "Whitebread, but very believable."
"Oh, come on. No less ethnic than Sam Banks."
"Bingo. You got me there, darlin'. Not a name I've heard in a long time."
"Tell me about it," she said with a chuckle of her own.
"What are you up to now?" he asked.
"Started a business. Cybersecurity."
"Hummm. Yeah, I could see that. Security would open up a lot of terrific possibilities. That's smart thinking, Angel. Well done," he said.
"Dad, it's one hundred percent legit. Totally," she said.
"Sure, it is. Sure, it is," he said with a chuckle. "So, you learned computers, huh?"
"Nope, not me. No more than anyone else, anyway. One of my...partners though can make them sing and dance and bring you coffee." Before the call she had considered whether or not to tell him about Chuck and their engagement. She still hadn't quite made up her mind at this point in the conversation though. "He's a top-notch computer guy. He and guys like him handle the computer stuff. Then there's me and another partner. We handle the business parts of the operation. The three of us own the company now."
"Now?"
"We started with four, but there's three left now," she said. Her mind slid sadly to Amy for a moment, but then went back to her dad.
"Ok. You out in Silicon Valley or something? Maybe that tech corridor south of Boston?"
"Nope. LA," she replied.
Her answer made him burst out in a bark of laughter. "Oh, darlin', that's fantastic. I have a gig going down there. I'm heading there in the next couple of days. Small world."
"But I wouldn't want to paint it," she said, almost automatically, quoting a favorite comedian, and causing her dad to chuckle.
"You have time to see your dear old dad? Maybe I can buy you dinner?"
She only hesitated a moment. Him coming to visit would force a plethora of issues to start to swirl around, issues that she'd love to avoid dealing with. On the other hand, she hadn't seen her dad in ten years and...well, she missed him. She decided to bite the bullet.
At that point she decided to save the "Chuck" surprise for when she saw her dad next. She would face her father and explain her personal situation with Chuck's strength next to her...holding her up...imparting to her the courage to have what was sure to be a difficult conversation. And with Chuck there, maybe her dad's discomfort would be tempered. At least in public.
Putting on a delighted tone of voice, Sarah replied. "Sure, dad. I'd love to see you. I hope you recognize me now," she said, contemplating the very real possibility that he would not.
"I guess you got the braces off?"
"Sure did. And I'm not dying my hair anymore so I'm blonde like mom," she said,
"I'm sure you're the most beautiful woman in Tinseltown," he said. "And that's where they keep the crème d'la crème, honey."
"Thanks, dad. When will you be in town? I'll make us a reservation someplace for dinner."
"I was going to come in next week, but with you there I'll move my schedule up. How about Thursday?"
"Ok, dad. Call when you get in and I'll tell you where and when"
"Terrific, Angel. I can't wait. Sight for sore eyes."
"Me too, dad."
"Love you," he said.
"Love you too," she replied.
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They were in the Porsche driving to DeBlasio's Trattoria in Beverly Hills, a nice popular upscale Italian restaurant with a large outdoor seating area.
Sarah was wearing a nice black dress and Chuck was in a suit and tie. Each thought the other looked spectacular.
He watched her drive for a few moments. "You're nervous," he said to her.
Sarah blew out a breath. "Yeah...I guess I am. I haven't seen him in a long time. Ten years. I've changed a lot. I've had a long time to think about what I want to say to him. Some of it is probably going to be hard for him to hear."
"Are you regretting the decision to re-connect?"
"No, not at all. What I told mom the other day was true. I don't want to let my discomfort let me separate from a parent again for God knows how long. I've done that and I deeply regret it. I really do. So, no, I do not regret the decision to see him tonight. It's just that...well, he's dad...and..."
"It's complicated?"
Nodding, she grinned at him a little bit. "Yeah. It is."
Chuck reached out and took one of her hands and held it. "I got it. And I got you. You'll get your say and, I know you, you'll do it in a way that he knows you love him. That's the sugar that makes the harsher truths go down more easily...to mess up that metaphor a bit. And knowing you love him will make all the difference."
"I hope so," she said. She squeezed his hand in return. "But you're attributing good intentions to him because you're a good person."
"Well, he must have done something right. You turned out pretty good."
She grinned at him and thought about the reunion to come. "I'm glad you'll be there with me. I really am. To support me," she said, twisting in the driver's seat to smile at him.
"Always and forever. I love you," he said.
"I love you too, she said. He took the hand he was holding and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss.
They dropped the car with the parking valet and walked to the door to the restaurant. Jack was waiting near the host podium and looking past them. He didn't appear to recognize Sarah, approaching on Chuck's arm.
She stopped in front of him and said, "Hi, dad."
Jack looked at her and couldn't hide his profound shock. He quickly schooled his features, but the initial reaction had been telling. He really hadn't recognized her. He smiled broadly and said, "Sarah. Oh my God. You are so, so beautiful. My God." He stretched out his arms and leaned in for a hug.
Sarah hugged him and said, "Good to see you."
He pulled back a bit with his hands on her shoulders and studied her for a few moments, just drinking her in. His smile widened even more. "My God. Angel, you're not my baby girl anymore. You're a beautiful woman. Wow. I mean wow." He sounded truly awed.
Sarah laughed lightly and said, "I take after mom."
"No way," Jack said, shaking his head. "Your mom was never this spectacular. Not once."
"Don't be mean," said Sarah, giving him a light rap on the shoulder.
"No, no, no. That's not what I meant." He turned to Chuck, extending his hand. "Hi. I'm Jack Walker."
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Chuck Bartowski." The men shook hands.
"Chuck as in Charles?" Jack asked.
"Yes, sir," said Chuck.
"You guys caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting three of us," he said.
With a bright smile, Sarah said, "Surprise." She turned to the host and gave her name. The man took three menus from a shelf and they followed him to an outside table.
Sitting, Jack said, "So, Charlie, how do you know my little girl?"
"Chuck," said Sarah to her dad. He looked at her and she repeated, "Chuck. His name is Chuck. Call him Chuck."
"Oh, right. Sorry. Chuck," Jack said, looking back at Chuck.
"Well, Mr. Walker, we used to work nearby each other," he said.
Speaking to Chuck Sarah said, "Burton. He's using Burton now. He just picked Walker because you know me as Walker."
Jack looked surprised again for just a moment, but then said, "Well, yeah, honey. I just thought we could keep things simpler. Avoid that story. You know." He flapped his hands, as if to indicate a story best avoided.
"Dad, he knows," she said.
"Of course, he does. I mean it's not that much of a story," said Jack.
"No, he really knows." Jack fell silent, looking at his daughter with confusion, maybe a bit of concern. She turned to Chuck and said, "Chuck, what did I do from the age of seven until seventeen?"
"You and your dad traveled the country as itinerant con artists."
"And where has my dad been for the last ten years?"
Chuck reached up and nervously scratched a non-existent itch on his scalp. "He's been away," Chuck said, not eager to throw gasoline on any flames that might develop.
"Away where?" she asked, rotating her hand in a 'get on with it' gesture.
Looking at Jack, Chuck said, "Away in prison."
"Exactly," she said. Sarah turned to her dad and said, "He knows everything. No lies and secrets with my Chuck."
Jack looked at the two of them with surprise. "Well, that's a switch. Color me surprised, honey. This is ok?"
"Yes, dad. Trust me."
"Always, Angel. Count on that," he said pointing a finger at her.
"Dad, I've changed. I'm twenty-eight now. I've been away from you for over ten years. What's more, Chuck and I are engaged. We're getting married." She thrust her hand towards him, showing her engagement ring. "He knows everything."
Now Jack was truly blown away with that news. His mask didn't get back into place for almost ten seconds, looking back and forth between them. When it did, he smiled broadly and said, "Married? Oh, that's just great. Wonderful news. Congratulations. That's great."
The waiter arrived and they ordered. Linguini with clam sauce for Chuck, pasta primavera for Sarah, and shrimp scampi for Jack. A bottle of pinot grigio.
"Well, tell me. How did you two meet?" asked Jack.
"Chuck worked fixing computers and I was working at a fast-food place nearby. We started to date and fell in love. It's sort of a vanilla story actually," said Sarah. "But we were talking to some of our friends once about Chuck's skillset and decided we had the beginnings of a company. A couple of weeks later we started Carmichael Industries. Cybersecurity. Strengthening computer systems from hacking. Langston helped a lot. He got us in front of some government people and we got some contracts."
"Langston? Langston Graham?" asked Jack.
"Yeah," said Sarah.
"You do cyber work for the CIA?" Jack asked, his voice low as he leaned forward, but a bit of a look of respect beginning to form on his face.
Chuck started to laugh. "The CIA? Oh, God no. They have their own guys. No. We have contracts for the Forestry Service for the Department of the Interior and Highways for the Department of Transportation. But, if all goes according to plan, we are pitching for some work for the National Archives...that would be a big one." He made a big deal about crossing his fingers.
"Good luck then. Any banks? Any kind of that work?" Jack asked.
Sarah said, "We do some work for the HR department of Western First Bank. We're hoping that, if we do a good job for them, they will let us help with other parts of their systems too."
"Ah, sure. That sounds exciting. Umm...and tell me about the wedding."
Smiling brightly, Sarah said, "It's a double wedding at the end of the year. My best friend, Ellie, who also happens to be Chuck's sister, is getting married too. So, we decided to do it all together. Both couples at the same time." She reached out and took Chuck's hand. "It's going to be a really big wedding. We're super excited for it."
Chuck looked at her with love and blew her a kiss when she looked back at him.
"Well, isn't that just great. I admit I'm a little surprised. Didn't really think my little girl would settle down to a steady job and a marriage. I thought you were too much of an adventurer, like your old man."
"Oh, I don't know, Mr. Burton..."
"Call me Jack, Charlie," he said with a grin.
"And call him Chuck, dad," Sarah said, not sounding as easy-going about it as she had the last time she had corrected him. Her gaze was hard.
"Right, sorry, Chuck," he said.
"Anyway, Jack," continued Chuck. "I think your daughter is quite the adventurer. I don't expect that's going to stop any time soon. I won't be holding her back, that's for damn sure."
"No?" asked Jack.
"Nope. She's getting me to be more adventurous to tell the truth. I couldn't stop her if wanted to. Hell, Jack, she's got me taking scuba diving lessons this weekend. We are planning a scuba-diving vacation for the honeymoon. That's pretty adventurous, I think."
"Well that sure is. Good for you guys. The wedding going to be here in LA?"
"It is," said Sarah. "We're getting married at the Hotel San Mateo in Santa Monica. On the beach. Outdoor ceremony with an indoor party afterwards. The next night, off to the Caribbean for the honeymoon."
"For your next adventure? You know, Charl..." He saw the look his daughter gave him. "...Chuck, we used to have some terrific adventures ourselves, didn't we, Angel?" Sarah smiled softly and nodded, remembering. "Six...maybe seven times...she was hit by an armored car. I'd get a bag of money from the back while everyone was looking at the little girl on the bike lying on the street. The trick was, it had to be an actual accident. I'm telling you, she could fake a broken arm like a pro."
"Dad, I actually broke my arm," Sarah said, but didn't seem upset about it.
"Only once. And that was because the truck slid on a patch of ice. It was an unforeseeable act of God. Come on, darlin', admit it was fun. No kid had as much fun as you did."
Sarah nodded softly. "Well, yeah. It was fun...sometimes, anyway."
Their food arrived and they began to eat. Although the food was excellent, it didn't beat Morgan's.
After a while, Chuck excused himself to go to the men's room and Jack looked at his daughter with a bit of a smirk. "Ok," he said. "The schnook and his sister the only heirs of a rich California family or what? Come on, what's really going on, Angel?"
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A/N3: Dinner at DeBlasio's. That is the restaurant to which Chuck tailed Sarah and Jack at the beginning of the episode (not the restaurant in the hotel the next night). Mr. William DeBlasio was one of the set designers for Chuck and the namesake of the restaurant. I think that's pretty cool.
A/N4: Well, this is going well so far, I guess. Seems like Jack still doesn't get it, though. Let me know what you think.