Critical Hellfire

By Steampunk . Chuckster

Summary: Chuck and Morgan are co-hosts of a locally popular streaming channel in which they discuss all things metal while playing video games. Their lives are uprooted when their demo guy hands them THE demo of the ages—a band called Critical Hellfire, fronted by singer and bassist Sarah Walker. AU Charah.

A/N: Again, I appreciate how many of you are still reading and reviewing this one. Means a lot. Still dealing with a lot of things that are out of our hands at my job right now. We're handling things that ARE in our hands and we just have to wait for other people to not be so deeply inept. It's one of those things where you want to just bark at these people, "If you are inept, go sit down somewhere else so that the people who aren't inept can get it done!" Anyway, I'm stressed. Hope y'all enjoy this chapter though!

Disclaimer: I don't own CHUCK or any of its characters. I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter, this fic, or anywhere else for that matter. I am making absolutely zero dollars writing and posting this.

The only response he got was a blink, her features unreadable.

Chuck honestly hadn't been sure how she would take it, if only because the band seemed like such a unit—and maybe that was their power, their magic. It seemed important to Sarah especially that they took action together, made decisions together, went onstage together. And when he proposed the idea to a super enthusiastic Morgan Grimes, Chuck had voiced his concern that she might not agree to it because of that.

And damn it, he'd respect the shit out of her for it, too.

But he also wanted this.

"So…I know it's probably outta left field," he continued after a long enough silence. "Usually our guests are gamers, DJs, we had a roadie for Black Sabbath on one time, too. That guy was legitimately out of his God damn mind. I was a little nervous we'd given him my address afterwards, I won't lie to you. Ellie was peeeeyyiisssed. She started locking everything up more tightly, and Captain Awesome slept with nunchucks under his pillow."

Sarah snorted. "Nunchucks? He knows how to use those?"

"Nope." She giggled, shaking her head. "Made him feel safer, though."

He reached up to tuck some of her hair away from her face, his thumb stroking down her cheek gently. "We completely understand if this isn't something you feel comfortable doing."

"No, it-it isn't that. I guess it… Are you talking just me going on your show to be interviewed? Or the whole band?"

"Well, it's a two-part project." She arched her brow. "You would come on as a special guest, just you, we'd chat about Critical Hellfire, really grease up the gears for our viewers, get them stoked about your band. Maybe play some video games—Or-or we could just…talk." He recognized the narrow-eyed look she gave him at that suggestion and quickly corrected. "The games aren't a requirement. Ahem." She smirked. "It's sort of an intro, you know? Because then what we'd do is we'd set up my basement for a show. Critical Hellfire actually performs." He spread his hands out grandly. "A live performance from Critical Hellfire on Games N Rock Sessions. It'll be mad."

Sarah fully gaped at him. "A live performance…"

"Yes."

"In…your basement…?"

Chuck gave her a sheepish look. "We don't have many, um, options for where it'd be. But-but the viewers are familiar with the basement. They're comfortable with it, you know? That's why in a few weeks when we finally go live from that studio set, it's gonna look just like my basement. Even these big-wig producers who hate the Sessions part of our channel name recognize that our basement is important to the viewers' comfort."

She smiled a little and nodded. "Makes sense. That's…kind of…I mean, you're sure you want us performing in your basement?"

He gave her his best Are you serious?! look. "Fuckin' positive. And what's awesome is it'll be the first time GnR has a live performance from a full band. We've had guys come on, strum their guitars and whatever. Banjo. Ukulele. But a four-piece band. The full metal enchilada." He pushed himself to sit up, grinning, getting a bit adrenalized without meaning to. "You guys just rocking the shit out of a cover, you absolutely wailing into a mic. The viewers would finally see this band we've been freaking gushing about for a couple of weeks now. It'll be out of control."

Sarah slowly pushed herself to sit up next to him, clutching the covers to her chest. "Wow. It'd be the first live performance on your channel?"

"Yeah. For a full band? For sure. It's fitting, too. Morgs and I have never been this stoked about a local band. I-I mean, this…thing here…between us…notwithstanding. I mean, that isn't why. You aren't why. Not-Not the only reason. Not like you don't matter, because you do. I just mean, we're super stoked about Critical Hellfire. It's the band. You guys…"

"Do we wail?" she asked, amusement in her face.

"You fuckin' waaaaaaaaiiiiil," he drawled, doing the devil's horn gesture and sticking his tongue out again, making her laugh.

She sobered up then a little, a thoughtful look on her face as she bit her lip, staring down at her lap. And then she finally lifted her blue eyes to his face, looking at him through her eyelashes.

"Chuck, this is…a lot. We've never been invited to do anything like this before. I mean, Critical Hellfire plays at a gig that's got maybe…a hundred people? At the most," she scoffed. "And that's it. Your channel gets streamed a lot by people in LA. Like, everyone watches you guys around here. You're sort of…celebrities."

"Yeah." He shrugged, not bothering with modesty. A certain sect of the LA community did know them. "And if we interview you first, the viewers get to meet you, get to know more about the band from the lead singer slash bassist. We're gonna easily get a couple thou watching live, not to mention how many go back to watch the archived episode later if they miss it live."

"That's, like, fifty times the exposure we get at a regular gig," Sarah breathed quietly, her blue eyes wide. He thought he sensed something in her though. A certain excitement began to bloom in her face.

"That's our hope. That this at least gets you on the radar in LA in a big way. But I know you don't do anything without your band's say-so, it's how you guys operate, and I absolutely understand that."

She turned to give him a long look, and she took a deep breath. "I'm so in."

"Ha! Yes!" He thrusted his fists up over his head in celebration.

"But!" she added. He lowered them again, pressing one of the fists to his lips to restrain himself. "I need to talk to Dyl, Mac, and Riz first. Because you're right, that is how the band operates. We sit down, we talk these things out, and then we go forward together as a band, or we…don't go forward at all. It's how we do things."

"Oh. I know. I know, that's probably why you guys are so…you." He gave her a dreamy look. "Please talk to them, yes. I don't want to get in trouble with Critical Hellfire in any way, shape, or form."

"Get in trouble?" She scoffed. "With those guys? They adore you. And Morgan. They loved you two before we met you both, before I started sleeping with you." She poked his shoulder.

Chuck felt almost dizzy from the way she said that last part with so much nonchalance, like it wasn't the biggest development in his life so far.

"Which is to say, I'm, like…ninety-nine percent sure they're going to say hell yeah to all this. Even the me doing the interview part. I'm sure they'll get it. You aren't just inviting the person on who you think is the 'leader' of the band—since we don't have a leader, this shit's egalitarian—you're basically just inviting your girlfriend on. It's pretty cute."

If he'd felt dizzy before…

Those words hit him like a freight train.

It must've showed on his face, too, because Sarah frowned in concern, reaching out to steady him. "You okay? Did I…say something?"

"You…" he barely got out. He cleared his throat, shaking himself a bit. "You just said you're my girlfriend, right? I'm just…confirming my ears heard what I think they heard…"

She seemed almost tentative then as she wrinkled her nose and slowly replied, "I did say that. Is…that okay?"

Chuck burst into adrenalized laughter, making her jump, her blue eyes going big as saucers. "Sor—I'm sorry. Sorry. No, I…" He reached out to wrap his fingers around her bicep nearest him. "Oh my God, I didn't mean to laugh like that. I'm just—H'ooohhhh that feels good. Sorry."

He clamped both hands over his mouth and she beamed, letting out a bubbly giggle.

"That is easily the weirdest way you could have reacted and I am somehow insanely attracted to you for it."

"I didn't mean to explode. I promise. I just wasn't expecting it. I mean, I didn't know if that was what this was or not. I wanted it to be. I want it to be. I didn't want to…label it and freak you out."

"Why would it freak me out? Neither of us are seeing other people." She shrugged. "Right?" Then she paused. "Right? You…aren't—"

"What?!" he blurted. "You think I'm outta my God damn mind?!" He scoffed in disbelief. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep exploding in your general direction. It—Am I seeing someone else? Oh my God. Sarah. All I had to do was see you onstage for the first time at Mosh Mansion and that was so fuckin' it. I was like, Done. I'm done. Never looking at another woman again. What are women? I don't…know any women—Am I going too far with this?" Sarah had pulled her chin down, looking up at him through her eyelashes and pressing her lips into a thin line.

"Yes," she said simply.

"I was spiraling a bit, maybe. I'm cool now, though, yeeeah," he rushed out breathlessly.

Sarah giggled, and then she got a certain look in her face, and her hand was against his chest, pushing him down until he was flat against the mattress again. She crawled on top of him, fixing the covers over them both. He was glad, as it had started raining outside, the droplets loud against the huge windows around her loft, and it was a little chilly in here. Well…not now. Definitely not now. A heat was building rapidly inside of him suddenly."I'll talk to my band about performing live on Games N Rock Sessions."

"Okay. Good. Thank you. Thanks for considering it."

She smiled down at him. "Yeah, well…thank you for being Critical Hellfire's biggest cheerleader."

He smiled back, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear again. "Yeah, I am kinda, huh? Don't you forget it," he teased. Then he gave her a more serious look. "Critical Hellfire deserves the cheerleading. Your band is truly great."

Sarah softened, letting her full weight lower against him, pushing her fingers into his curls. "I've started to notice that you're also kinda…my biggest cheerleader, too."

He nodded. "You also deserve it." He loved how bright her smile was. It filled him so completely with light that it felt like it was overflowing out of his face holes. "Anyway, you're not so bad at it yourself. I've got a super cool, nice, funny, raging hot girlfriend, she actually likes me and wants good things for me, and that's a massive confidence booster. Something I feel like I maybe needed. That's just between us."

"Oh, yeah?" she flirted, pursing her lips, raising one perfect eyebrow.

"Mhm." He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her bottom half against his.

Sarah bit her lip and he felt her hand slide down his bare hip to his thigh, squeezing. "How's your confidence doing right now? In need of pump up?"

He let out a high-pitched giggle and she rolled her eyes. "Sorry, that was just super adorkable. A pump up? Sarah…"

"I'm gonna kick you out of my bed… Nay, my whole loft. Down the stairs. Back into that cute little car of yours."

"Please don—Hey, you think my car's cute?"

That earned him a full belly laugh. "I think pretty much everything about you is cute."

"Heeeey," he drawled with a happy grin. "I'll take it."

"Mhmmm," she hummed, bumping him with her hips. "You didn't answer my question though."

"What question's that…?"

The heat was building. He felt it washing over both of them. And it was intoxicating.

"Does your confidence need…pumping up?" she pronounced slowly, the consonants popping on her lips.

"Wow," he breathed. "You repeated the same phrase I just teased you about. That's gumption. I love a woman with gumption."

"You are exhausting."

"That's the goal, baby. Ah! Ow!" She'd actually just pinched his thigh. "Did you just pinch me?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna do worse, too, if you don't stop being such a stinker."

"Is that a promise?"

They laughed together, lips finally meeting, bodies entangled. And as she shifted her hips just so, ecstasy spilled through him. He clung to her like his life depended on it, losing himself in her so fully he didn't even notice the flashes of lightning filling her bedroom, or the roll of thunder that followed behind.

}o{

As Ellie climbed into the car next to him, Morgan and Awesome clambering into the back, his sister let out a cute, excited little sound. "This is kind of fun. I feel like my brother's bringing me to work. Is it Bring Your Sister To Work day?"

Chuck laughed. "It is not. But Critical Hellfire wants opinions," he informed them all as he turned on L.A. Guns, making the volume lower than usual so that they could talk without yelling over the music, the way he did with Morgan when it was just the two of them in the car.

"I don't know shit about metal, and you know that. Only whatever I heard when I was around you when we were growing up. I hope they don't have super high expectations for me," Ellie said with a wince.

"You know enough to know if what you're hearing is bitchin'," Morgan said from the backseat as Chuck started them on their way to the Critical Hellfire warehouse.

"Maybe, but there's no way I'm gonna be using that stupid word," Ellie drawled back at him.

"That's fair. The vocab isn't important."

Awesome leaned forward then, putting his hand on Chuck's shoulder. "I, for one, am honored. Thanks for letting me borrow that demo, too. But I have to be honest with you, I forced myself not to listen to it."

Chuck gave him a quick questioning glance over his shoulder. "Why not?"

"If they're as great as you guys say, I want it to wash over me fresh. You know? Like going into a superhero movie not knowing shit about it, never seeing a trailer, and just being blasted outta your seat by how awesome it is. Like having your girlfriend make you dinner, not knowing what she's making, and sitting down at the table blindfolded to eat it. The flavors just…bursting in your mouth…?"

He spotted his sister blushing as she sent her boyfriend a quick shut up look, her green eyes piercing.

"Ew, seriously?" Chuck asked.

"What, ew! It was just a food kink thing. No big."

Ellie whipped around. "Devon! Oh. My. God…"

"We're all adults here. What's the problem?" Awesome asked defensively.

In the meantime, Morgan was holding his hands over his ears going, "La la la la la la la la la la la la!"

"Subject change!" Chuck yelled, desperately waving his hand through the air.

"Yes, please," Ellie groused, sinking lower in her seat and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Anyway, I'm really excited you guys are going with me to watch my…girlfriend's band jam in their warehouse."

Just like that, Ellie was sitting upright again, eyes wide. "Ohhh hoooo, really now?"

"Girlfriend?" Awesome exclaimed.

Chuck could feel Morgan preening proudly.

"So it's a labeled thing, then?" his sister asked. "Because I know you were worried about doing that."

"Yeah, I was, but then a few days ago, she just…oohhh so casually called herself my girlfriend."

"It's almost like you have anxiety about things you shouldn't have anxiety about, huh?" Awesome muttered close to his ear. Did he even have his seatbelt on? Why was he so freaking close?!

"P-Put your seatbelt on," Chuck snapped over his shoulder.

"It's on. I'm just pulling it really far out."

"Thus defeating the purpose of a seatbelt," Morgan informed him in a scholarly tone.

"Can we all be cool about this? She's kind of fantastic and I like her a lot and whenever I tell you people things like this, you get all riled up and it makes me nervous. And then I'm gonna have it all build up in my head until I freak out and scare 'er off. So please. Please be cool."

"We're cool," Ellie said with a cool shrug. "Right, guys?" She turned to Morgan and Awesome. "We're cool."

"We're cool," Morgan said.

"Tooootally awesome," Awesome added at the same time. "Hey, how hard am I allowed to cheer, 'Woooooo! Go Chuck's girlfriend!'? Scale from one to ten."

"Yeah, don't do that at all, thanks," Chuck responded in a chipper tone.

"Damn, okay. We may need to go over Do's and Don't's…"

Morgan chuckled.

"Guys!" his sister cut in, giving them both threatening looks. "He's serious. Don't mess this up. He's finally dating a good one. Do you wanna be what contributes to it falling apart and Chuck going into a depressive slump again? Because I don't."

Chuck gave her a half-offended look. "Thank you? I guess?"

Thankfully, the conversation had settled into something a lot less stress-inducing by the time Chuck pulled up to the curb outside of the warehouse.

"But that just boggles my mind, Ellie. That you can take part of someone's brain out and still have them survive and be a functioning member of society," Morgan was saying. "I'm just so impressed. You're the coolest person on the planet."

"It's my job. And it isn't about me, it's about the patient. It's about making sure they get the best outcome. A long, healthy, happy life. As much as I can save, I give it my all. Every person who walks into my operating room deserves that."

"See, this is why I love you, babe. Such a pro," Awesome said proudly, earning a beaming look from his girlfriend.

Chuck turned off the car as Morgan asked, "Okay, so here's my question: If a patient was wheeled into your operating room and you had the ability to either save this person's life or let them go…" He paused dramatically. "And that patient just so happened to be one Jill Succubus Banshee Roberts—"

"Morgannnn," Chuck warned.

Ellie whipped around in her seat and pointed at him threateningly. The look in her green eyes was enough to pin him back against his seat, Captain Awesome seeming to hold his breath along with Chuck. Would this be the day Morgan said the wrong thing and Ellie actually attacked him physically? Dear lord, the bearded one treaded not so carefully with her sometimes and one of these days…maybe today…

"I. Am. A. Professional. When I say every person, I mean every. person. You little troll." There was a beat as she narrowed her eyes even further. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't also curse the shit out of her the whole fuggin' time."

Chuck let out the breath he'd been holding as color started coming back into Morgan's face beneath the beard.

Awesome let out a nervous chuckle.

The band's van that they used to go to and from gigs was parked in the driveway leading to the sliding door, facing the street. Dylan popped up from the back doors of the van, spotting them parked, and he waved from where he was perched inside, grinning his handsome grin at them.

"That's Dylan," Chuck said.

"He's so cool," Morgan breathed.

"Morgan is correct. He is insanely cool. He's one of the guitarists and sometimes takes the lead in singing, depending on the song."

They all climbed out of the Nerd Herder and Chuck lifted a hand. "Hey, man. How's it shakin'?"

"Shake'n'Bake, brother!" Dylan called back, hopping down and coming around to meet them all.

Chuck was happily surprised to find the nerves almost nonexistent.

}o{

They hit an instrumental break, Zondra working her way through a crucial solo, and Sarah gave herself a moment to look down at their audience of four.

Of course, the first person her eyes settled on was the one person who'd caused her the most nerves about this whole idea to have two new guests at their practice session as they tried to settle on what they'd perform during their exclusive very first appearance on a Twitch streaming channel.

The one person whose opinion seemed to matter the most to her on so, so many things.

Chuck's sister.

The woman cupped her hands around her mouth and let out an excited howl, which was a good sign, she supposed, bouncing in the folding chair Mac had oh-so-grandly unfolded and set down for her as if she was a queen. That was a couple of songs ago now, and Sarah found herself feeling a bit of stage fright in the beginning there.

Ridiculous.

Utterly ridiculous.

Someone could tell her Bootsy himself was in the audience watching them play and she'd not feel a lick of stage fright. She knew who she was and she knew what she was capable of doing with her bass.

But the guy she was dating, this fledgling relationship of theirs, all filled with good things and honeymoon stage butterflies and sunshine and…feeling one another out…it was all very new for her. She tended to dive into the mess of a relationship headfirst, still carefully keeping her head above water, keeping control over herself, keeping her cards held tight to her chest. And the guys she was with didn't give a shit because they didn't care enough to. That was her comfort level for so many years. She thought she was thriving in that, too.

She wasn't.

She could see that now that she'd met someone who made her feel good, who made her happy. Not little blips, little moments of light, amidst darkness. But full-blown happiness, like she was floating or something. This was…dare she say it…healthy.

Wow.

And now his sister was here and all it took was for a good, healthy start to a relationship for her to lose her God damn cool.

Because she really wanted to impress the other woman. She wanted to blow her out of the water. She wanted an ally in her attempt to keep this guy around.

Maybe that was it right there.

She was actually trying. She wanted to try. She hadn't wanted to try with the guys before this. Because what did it matter? If it fell apart, it fell apart. That was life. And that didn't mean it wasn't hard when it ended, that it didn't hurt her. They'd hurt her. She'd probably hurt some of them. But it was a part of dating. At least she thought so before.

Now she was having a hard time just chilling, letting this play out the way it played out, whatever that meant for her, for him, for them together. Just "seeing how this went" didn't feel doable because she cared about how it went, cared where it ended up.

Zondra's solo ended and they jumped right back into the song. Sarah stepped up to the mic with a growled, "Well, knock 'em dead, kid!"

She finally pulled her gaze from Ellie Bartowski, Ellie's boyfriend sitting on the couch with Morgan, both of them banging their heads. And her eyes fell onto Chuck. He'd turned his wooden chair, straddling the seat the wrong way around, his hands on the back of it, and he was slamming his fist against the wood to the beat, his lip trapped between his teeth.

His eyes roved over the band, the purest joy she'd ever seen on his face as he mouthed, "Knock 'em dead, kid!" with them. And when his eyes met hers, she felt herself giving him a crooked smile. She winked and he swooned dramatically for her benefit. She barely held in a laugh. The doofus.

They finished the song after one last chorus, and the foursome stood from their seats, giving Critical Hellfire an uproarious applause.

"This one," Devon announced after the applause died down. Sarah bent down to grab her water, realizing she'd drained her second bottle.

Dylan leaned into his mic. "Devon, my dude, you said that after every song."

They all laughed.

Sarah set down her bass in its stand to grab another water, but spotted Chuck already at the fridge, opening it, taking a water out. She melted a bit as he called out, "Who else needs another bottle?"

"Oooo me!" Mac called out.

Chuck came back with two ice cold bottles, handing them up to Sarah.

Their fingers brushed as she leaned down to take them from him.

"Thanks, cutie," she chirped, winking. She stood to her full height again as he gave her a dreamy look, and maybe she swooned a bit herself…only hers was fully sincere. She hid it by turning to catch Mac's eye, tossing the bottle to him where he stood behind his drum set.

He caught it cleanly with a, "Thanks, Chuck, you're a doll!"

"If I had a dime for every time someone said that to me…"

Sarah laughed, taking a long swig of the water, swallowing, blowing a bit of hair out of her face.

"I dunno, I wonder if we shouldn't go back to an old fave," Zondra said then.

"Which old fave?" Dylan asked.

"The old fave."

Their eyes all got big as they looked at their guitarist.

"Oh shit, I'd have to bring the keyboard. You know, it's been a bit since I've had to double duty in a song. I was so much younger then," the other guitarist said wistfully, sighing. "So much bolder."

"Come on, man. You can still do it. We played that song all the time in the early days of Critical Hellfire," Mac said. "Let's try it and see what they think." He gestured to their cozy little audience.

"We're jamming," Sarah added with a shrug. "If it doesn't click anymore, we can toss it. Or…here's a thought that might blow your minds. Ready for it? …Maybe we practice it again."

"Okay, now you're veering a little too close to sarcasm for my liking," Dylan groused, sending her a kissy face to let her know he was teasing.

She giggled. "C'mon. Let's try it."

"Fine. But it's gonna take me a sec to get the keyboard prepped. I need to reprogram some of the stuff into here too. Take twenty?"

"Fine by me, I need a drink," Rizzo breathed, putting her guitar down and hopping off of the stage.

"It's four in the afternoon, ya alcy," Mac called after her.

Ellie piped up. "That's when happy hour starts at Casa de Bartowski."

"HA!" Zondra shot over her shoulder. She held up her hand for a high five as she passed Ellie and Ellie smacked it hard, grinning. "Join me, sister. We have all the 'hols you could want."

"Don't mind if I do."

They went off together as Sarah plopped down on the edge of the stage and crossed her legs, waiting for her boyfriend to wander over. He'd gotten a bit of a look in his eye as their gazes met and she knew for a fact that he was coming before he even took a step.

Morgan and Devon joined the other guys on stage, chatting as Dylan got his keyboard ready.

But they were old news as Chuck sidled up to where she sat on the edge of the stage, sneaking in between her legs so that she could wrap her legs around his back and tug him in close.

"Careful getting too close, I'm all gross and sweaty," she muttered as he signaled he was coming in for a kiss.

"Oh nooooooo," he teased. "Not sweat! My kryptonite!"

And he kissed her anyway, making her giggle. "Okay, smart-ass. I was just warning you," she mumbled against his lips. "Felt like the polite thing to do."

He kissed her again, a bit longer this time, then pulled back, his hands resting on her jean-covered thighs. She held up a finger for him to wait before he went in for more, grabbing her water bottle. "Sorry. I need some water. I'm thirsty."

Chuck smiled. "Better hydrate, guuuuurrrrrl. Nope. Sorry. I heard it. Not doing it again," he rushed out when she raised an eyebrow at him over the bottle as she guzzled.

She lowered the bottle, swallowing, and she giggled. "Dork."

"Guilty."

She felt his hands squeeze her thighs a little and she liked it.

"So, uh…" Sarah looked over his head towards his sister who was drinking what looked like some kind of vodka something Zondra had fixed her. Or maybe gin. Something clear at least. They were chatting away nice and easy. Which she thought was more of a testament to how calming of a presence Ellie Bartowski was than it was of whether or not Zondra Rizzo was a friendly person. Zondra was a hard nut to crack, for everyone. She stayed quiet and observed in group situations, sort of glowered at folks around the room. It was just who she was. Apparently not with Ellie, though.

"So...?"

"What d'you think about Ellie and Devon? They liking the band?" She tried to sound casual, like it didn't mean a whole shit ton to her, when it absolutely did.

Chuck scoffed. "You see 'em jamming out here? They love your sound." He threw his thumb over his shoulder. "Ellie was head banging with Awesome. When she's in the car with us and we do it, she usually laughs and rolls her eyes, telling us she's a brain surgeon and knows for a fact we're destroying brain cells when we do that."

Sarah laughed. She screwed up her face thoughtfully then, sobering up. "Wait, is that true?"

"Nah, not really. I mean, it isn't like getting tackled playing football or getting into a car accident or hitting your head on somethin'. Your brain just kind of…swishes around a little when you head bang. I wouldn't suggest doing it a lot, though."

"Huh." She tilted her head. "Good to know."

"Perks of being a metal head and having a neurosurgeon big sis."

"Quite the perk."

"Mmm. But don't worry, you've made two huge fans today. Not that they weren't already fans. Hope you don't mind me saying it, but I'm actively way happier these days than I was before and it's noticeable. And I wasn't even really…unhappy before. I'm just…a lot happier now." He narrowed his eyes off to the side. "If that makes sense."

"It does. I don't mind you saying it, because it perfectly describes how I've been feeling lately."

Oh God help her, but the glowing grin that took up his whole face was making it hard to breathe. "Oh yeah? Is it, uh, is it me? I'm making you happier?"

"Nah, some other nerd with dark curls and a Twitch channel that spreads joy throughout LA." She pushed the fingers of her hand not holding the water through said curls, biting back a hum of pleasure at the silky feeling of his hair between her sensitive fingers.

Chuck did hum, his eyelids fluttering. Maybe they could spent the remaining fifteen minutes upstairs? Could they get away with that?

She decided she wanted to try. Everyone else was pretty distracted with their own shit.

So she leaned in close to Chuck's ear. "I need to get something out of my loft and I might need your help. Come up in a minute or two?"

Sarah pulled back, biting her lip, letting him see the mixture of hope and need in her blue eyes as he gaped at her.

"Is it a guitar pick? I bet it's a…a guitar pick, huh? I can help you, uh, find that. Yeah. No problem." The way his voice came out so strangled, she knew he understood her intentions all too well.

He let her slip off of the stage. Without looking back, not wanting to draw attention, she headed for the doorway behind which were the stairs that led up onto her loft. And when she got out of sight, she raced up them like a bat out of hell, grinning salaciously.

}o{

He'd heard Aldo Nova's "Fantasy" thousands of times in his life. He'd even seen or heard at least one or two covers.

But Dylan switching between keyboard and lead guitar solo, the concentration on his face as he shifted his guitar out of the way, pressing the key the set off the pre-recorded chords, pulling the guitar back and wailing on the guitar…?

Chuck was entranced. The guy was a fucking rock star. In every way.

He wrenched his gaze from the sorcerer himself as he bobbed his head to the song, finding the lead singer of Critical Hellfire looking right at him. He froze a little, just for a moment. And as she sang, "So forget all that you see, It's not reality…", she gave him a mischievous smirk that picked him up and dropped him back into her loft about ten minutes earlier.

Heat surged up from his collar and he swallowed hard, trying to get back into the song rather than let himself drown in sensations that were resurfacing with the way she was devouring him with her eyes from the stage.

It, uh, didn't really match the lyrics of the song.

Chuck didn't care.

She stepped back from the mic as Zondra whispered, "It's just a fantasy" into her own mic.

And she relinquished him from eye contact for just long enough that he could turn and glance at his family.

All three of them were dancing, Ellie shimmying her shoulders and switching her weight from one foot to the other, Devon hunched low with his knees bent, punching his fists, Morgan doing his strange tiptoe bouncing dance where he kept his arms rigid down at his sides.

They finished the song and Zondra killed it off with a flourish, playing a few last notes and using her tremolo.

Chuck cupped his hands around his mouth and let out an, "Owwww howhow howwwwww!" as everyone cheered. He turned and gave Morgan a look. Morgan nodded seriously, even as he slow clapped.

They both turned back to Critical Hellfire.

"That's it," they said simultaneously.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, shrugging off her guitar. "'Fantasy'? Really?" She exchanged a glance with the rest of the band.

"Yep," Morgan answered, nodding. "That's absolutely the one. Listen, you guys. …And girls," he added, wincing a bit. "The thing about this Aldo Nova song is that it rocks. But it also has an element of pop in it, you know? It's a crowd pleaser. You wanna dance to it. It's fun. That deedeedee deedeedee…deedeedee deedeedee on the keyboard. It's got this kind of existential look at society going for it lyrics-wise. It's the one. They'll eat it up."

Dylan pursed his lips, then turned his gaze to Chuck. "You really think so?"

"All of that. Everything Morgan said. But also, it showcases what you're capable of, Dylan. Switching back and forth between keyboard and lead guitar? That's the magic that we fell for when we saw Critical Hellfire for the first time, yeah man?" He nudged his best friend for back-up.

"Hell yeah!"

Even with their insistence, the band members seemed tentative.

"Do you think it's polished enough?" Sarah asked. "I know I probably slipped up a few times."

"Same," Dylan said.

Zondra gave them both a look that read Seriously?

"We could…here's a novel idea…practice it."

"Oh. Right," Dylan drawled.

"I like it," Mac finally said, getting up from his drum set and shoving his drumsticks down the back of his jeans so that they poked up from the waistband at his lower back. "I think they're right. We might appeal to a broader audience with a bit of a pop-ish angle in there."

"But without veering too far into Black Keys territory, yeah? Like, we wanna stay true to our rock roots and not sell out." Dylan made a face.

"Harsh!" Awesome exclaimed, chuckling. "Wow. No love for new Black Keys…"

"Okay, but Devon…" The guitarist put down his guitar, and hopped off of the stage as Zondra rolled her eyes, going through and unplugging amps. "Have you heard their first few albums? They were so fuckin' tight, man. And now they're just okay because they got onto the big popular radio stations and had their songs in, like, movies and shit."

"Snob!" Mac called from the back of the stage, even as he leaned down to check his bass drum.

Sarah hopped down off of the stage then, closing the distance and stepping up close, not touching him. Almost as if she was afraid if she did, what they'd very quickly (and yet exceptionally thoroughly) achieved in her loft earlier might pour liquid hot magma on top of them and they wouldn't be able to resist exploring it. …Again.

Only this time, they didn't have any cover.

Sarah'd stuffed her "favorite" bass pick in her jeans pocket just in case, if they needed an actual alibi because the others questioned where they went off to for thirteen and a half minutes, just the two of them.

"Do you really think we should do that song?"

"Yeah. I think it'll play super well with viewers, especially if we're kind of, um, expanding our viewership."

She sighed and nodded. "Okay, you guys are the pros. So we'll go with it. Right, Critical Hellfire? We're all good with that one, yeah?"

They all gave their own personalized versions of yes. Nods, shrugs, head tilts, et cetera.

Chuck grinned at Sarah as she turned back to him, and he knew these next few weeks were going to be crucial for Sarah, for her band, and for him.

A/N: My headcanon is that Zondra Rizzo and Ellie Woodcomb would like the shit out of each other. Immediately. Like "HOLD THE PHONE nobody told me the doofus Walker married's sister is a badass." And Ellie gravitates towards women who kick ass. (Gestures at Sarah) I mean, c'mon.

Thanks for reading. Please review if you're able!

-SC