As someone who knew first-hand how much life could change overnight, Chuck was still astounded at how much it could change in a week. A week ago, his college best friend sent him an email which turned him into the human equivalent of a government supercomputer, he'd earned two terrifying spies as his personal handlers, had saved the world, and then found out that said college best friend was dead and then apparently not dead and assigned as his additional third handler. It was a lot.

But, a little over a week on, Chuck thought he was adjusting to things quite well. True, having Casey always in his space, working as a Buy More green shirt wasn't ideal, but he got Sarah as his terrifyingly beautiful (and just plain terrifying) cover girlfriend. And, as the cherry on top, Bryce was easing himself into working as an accountant for the Buy More while recovering from the gunshot wound Casey had nearly killed him with.

So, all in all, Chuck thought he could be adjusting worse. It wasn't as if he had to constantly hover around Bryce or remind himself that Sarah's affection was only because of her job. And stopping Casey from beating seven kinds of crap out of shoplifters did add an exciting element to the monotony of Buy More workdays.

And, for everything that changed, a lot stayed the same. Harry Tang was still a massive dick, Morgan was still Morgan, and Ellie and Awesome were still making every other couple in the entire world look bad.

All in all, life was pretty good. Head full of really nasty government secrets aside.

.

.

That morning, after stopping Casey from going full Rambo on a shoplifter in the Buy More parking lot, Chuck followed Sarah into the Wienerlicious across the lot. Sarah strode behind the counter, complaining about burning another batch (clearly hot dog preparation was not one of the many skills taught by the CIA), Chuck trying to wrap his head around the reality of Sarah's cover.

"Why are you working here?" Chuck asked, not bothering to hide his confusion. He'd been pretty sure that this had been a joke when Sarah had announced it a few days into their working together.

"Surveillance," Sarah replied, disposing of the blackened wieners. "I can monitor the Buy More from here while you work."

Chuck had flashed on some of the things Sarah was capable of. Keeping her here seemed like a waste of her talents.

"It's just a cover, Chuck," she reassured him, reading the befuddlement on his face.

"All part of the plan," Chuck mumbled, suddenly not so sure he wanted to be here.

Casey and Sarah and Bryce getting jobs implied that this was a long-term thing. And a long-term thing implied that there wasn't a plan. And if there wasn't a plan, Chuck was screwed. Chuck didn't want to be screwed. Chuck would very much appreciate it if he was unscrewed as quickly as possible.

"There is a plan, right?" he checked, feeling his old friend anxiety come join the party. "Because, making gourmet wieners isn't exactly why you joined the CIA, and Casey isn't exactly a natural-born appliance salesman, and the whole kinda government-secrets-locked-in-my-brain thing, uh, that's, I'm sure, not really a boon for national security, so I'm hoping, I mean, I'm hoping that you'll tell me there's a plan. Is there a plan? I need there to be a plan. Tell me there's a plan."

"Breathe, Chuck," Bryce called, warm amusement colouring his voice.

Chuck spun on his heel, wondering how in the hell he had failed to notice Bryce Larkin - in another very expensive suit, by the way - leaning against one of the tables. He had thought he'd heard a chuckle at his comment about Casey.

"Bryce! How did-? When did-?"

"I'm a spy, Chuck," Bryce reminded him, flashing one of his Hollywood worthy grins. "And before you start, yes, I'm allowed in the field. So stop worrying."

Chuck crossed his arms, meeting Bryce's amused gaze. "I wasn't worrying."

Bryce held his hands up, grinning again. "Sure."

Now that Chuck was calmer, he noticed Sarah watching them. "We have a plan, Chuck," she announced, casting a grateful look over Chuck's shoulder. "But we can't talk about it here. I'll pick you up at eight tonight."

Chuck really wanted to know the plan now. He'd feel much better knowing it now. Besides, he had plans. "Actually, Bryce and I were going to have another look at reprogramming-" His voice trailed off, noting the look on Sarah's face. A look that said he was going on a date with her tonight even if she had to tranq dart him and drag him to her car herself. "Yeah, see you at eight."

Laughter shone in Bryce's eyes, the superspy pushing himself to his feet. "I'll walk you out," he offered, slipping his customary shades back over his eyes.

It wasn't that Chuck wasn't glad to see Bryce - in fact he preferred it when he could personally keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't off somewhere getting himself hurt again - but he was a little confused. "I thought you weren't due to come back in for a bit?"

"Two words, Chuck: Harry Tang." Bryce affected a shudder, moving around a parked Taurus. "Since both you and the General are adamant that I can't shoot him a little, I have to keep an eye out and make sure he doesn't mess with my work."

"He really wants that promotion," Chuck sympathised, all too familiar with the annoyance Tang produced.

Bryce cut an amused glance at Chuck, avoiding a stressed soccer mom without even looking. "I really want to shoot him, looks like neither of us are getting what we want."

Chuck sympathised. "And I want to know the plan, but I'm not getting that either."

"But you will at eight tonight."

"You know where Sarah is taking me?" Chuck asked, homing in on the one person who did know what it was like to kind of date Sarah Walker. "Is it somewhere romantic?"

"Yeah, buddy," Bryce agreed, a stifled sort of smile playing on his lips. "I'm sure it's somewhere romantic."

.

.

After work, where miraculously Casey didn't nearly kill anyone and Bryce didn't undo all the hard work the CIA doctors had done, Chuck was standing in front of the sparse contents of his closet. He held a blue shirt up to himself, turning a little towards Ellie. "Hey, sis, what d'you think of this one?"

"Another date with Sarah, huh?" Ellie asked, proud. Her smile shone in the mirror. "This is very exciting."

"Yeah, well," Chuck shrugged a little, playing it as casual as he was able - it was a fake date, after all. "Bryce thinks we're going somewhere romantic."

Morgan scoffed on the bed, still sore about another best friend muscling in on Chuck. "You'd better go romantic, Chuck," Morgan announced, barely looking away from his video game. "She is hot. You want to keep her."

"I get Bryce meeting her before me, but Morgan?" Ellie shook her head. "That's it. I want to meet this girl."

Chuck zoned out a little, distantly hearing Ellie and Morgan continue their habitual bickering.

Ellie handed him a shirt, smile bright and brooking no disagreement. "Tomorrow night, bring her. We're having dinner. And bring Bryce too, it's been ages since he's had dinner with us."

"I'll clear my schedule!" Morgan called after her, turning wounded puppy eyes on Chuck. "Does the Accountant really have to come?"

Chuck resigned himself to hearing Morgan complain about Bryce while he readied himself for his not-a-date. "If I don't invite him, Ellie will. Sorry, dude."

"I don't get why he's even back in California, anyway."

Chuck rolled his eyes. This complaint he had heard many times. "He got shot, Morgan."

Chuck's concern for his friend's health had made any other story impossible to spin.

Morgan, correctly reading Chuck's annoyance with this line of conversation, held his hands up. "Fine. But I'm still your best friend."

"You will always be my best friend," Chuck reassured him, grabbing his clothes to shower and change before Sarah arrived.

.

.

Chuck wasn't exactly used to second dates, even fake ones, but he was almost certain that they didn't involve the Buy More, a super secret CIA doctor and examinations. Sarah talked him down from his panicked ledge, reassuring him that this was the best way of removing the Intersect from his head.

Casey and Sarah remained outside the Home Theatre room, the former giving him a headset and a confident statement of Chuck's managing to screw this up somehow. Chuck shuffled warily inside, noting Bryce sprawled casually on the couch, popcorn bucket in his hands.

"You have a twisted idea of romantic, my friend," Chuck announced, glaring a little at the smirking figure of his superspy friend.

"You don't find secret rendezvous and a slideshow romantic?" Bryce asked in surprise. "Huh."

Chuck slumped onto the couch beside him, grabbing a mutinous handful of the popcorn he was pretty sure Bryce shouldn't even be eating. He grabbed the bucket and dropped it on his lap. "You're the worst."

"Lies," Bryce said easily. "I'm the best. Everybody says so."

"The Doctor's here," Casey called, hitting the button to close the curtains.

Chuck turned to Bryce, confusion plain in his voice. "You're not meeting him?"

Bryce rolled his shoulders in an elegant shrug. "Met him once, wasn't a fan."

"You of him or him of you?"

"Either." Bryce rescued his popcorn and smirked. "Now hush, and remember to do what they tell you."

Chuck narrowed his eyes, muttering mutinously. "The worst."

What followed was a long and only mildly excruciating show of pictures that forced him to flash over and over again. He was only peripherally aware of Bryce watching him in awe, his eyes wide and head shaking slowly. When Chuck finished with "...and that's just a picture of a turtle", Bryce hadn't touched so much as another kernel.

Chuck, who honestly could use a snack after all that, reappropriated the popcorn, letting Bryce return the theatre system to it's usual setup. "Do you think I did okay?"

"Okay? No." Bryce turned to Chuck, an unidentifiable light in his eyes. "You did incredibly, Chuck. That was- We never thought anyone could retain all that. That was..." Bryce shook his head again, trailing off.

"Awesome?" Chuck offered lamely.

Bryce could only nod.

"Speaking of Awesome," Chuck continued, deciding to bite the metaphorical bullet while he was here. "Ellie invited you to dinner tomorrow. It'll be me and Sarah, Ellie and Captain Awesome, and Morgan invited himself. So, if you don't want to come, I don't think anyone will mind."

"For Ellie's cooking, I'll put up with Morgan." Bryce scavenged a few kernels from the bucket. "Now, you'd better let Sarah drive you home so you can tell her too."

Chuck did. And it went well.

Sarah was definitely the best fake girlfriend he'd ever had. When he finally managed to mumble something about the evening, she seemed enthusiastic enough about meeting Ellie and Awesome even though Chuck knew the evening was bound to be excruciating. So, Chuck returned to his eager family inside his apartment, confident in his assertion that this had been the best second date he'd been on in years.

.

.

Bright and early the next morning, Chuck arrived at the Buy More to find a sullen Bryce Larkin. His Hollywood smile was shade too bright, the light in his eyes more irritated than warm. And Harry Tang wasn't even due in for another ten minutes.

"What's up, buddy?" Chuck called, crossing the floor to his side. "Casey bang on the wall all night, keep you awake again?"

A tiny sparkle came back into Bryce's eyes. "If he'd done that, I'd be happy. Because he'd be in the ER."

Chuck decided not to step into the Bryce-Casey minefield. "Then what's up?"

"Casey and Sarah are out in the field and I wasn't allowed to go."

If Chuck didn't know that Bryce was incapable of petulance, he would say that was exactly what he was showing. Chuck tried hard not to look too pleased by Bryce's presence out of the field. Still, he lowered his voice and whisper-hissed:"You were shot ten days ago."

"I'm a fast healer."

"Well, then you're keeping an eye on me."

Bryce got that look on his face that questioned Chuck's sanity. "How much trouble can you really get up to in a Buy More?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that question."

His friend narrowed his eyes. "No. I don't think I do."

Chuck saw the hint of longing in Bryce's face as he looked towards the carpark. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for someone as skilled as Bryce was to be grounded - even with a good reason. "If it will make you feel better, when you're properly healed we can play Gotcha here and we won't let Casey or Sarah play."

Bryce considered that for a moment. "Add Morgan to the banned list and I'll cheer up."

The thought of Morgan unleashed on the Buy More in a game of high stakes Gotcha was nothing short of terrifying. "Fine. Morgan isn't allowed to play either."

Bryce rewarded Chuck's capitulation with an all too rare bright, easy smile. "For the record, I could beat you at Gotcha right now."

"And, for the record, if you miss dinner because you're back in the hospital, you might as well go back to DC because Ellie will kill me."

Bryce slung an arm around his shoulder, steering him towards the employees only area. "I'd never let that happen, Chuck."

Chuck was almost certain that Bryce was only slightly teasing him when he said that. But, now that Bryce was back in a good mood, Chuck could risk satisfying his curiosity. "Why're Casey and Sarah back in the field anyway?"

Bryce's face took on a haunted, shadowed look Chuck instantly hated. "The NSA doctor got himself blown up last night. They're on the scene now."