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: Thanks for engaging sincerely with the last chapter. Most of you have been super awesome and I'm really appreciative of that. And I've seen the conversations some of you have been having amongst yourselves about it as well. It really does make an impact on me in a huge way, and I'm grateful to a lot of you folks. Thank you!

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.


Why did the cushion smell like popcorn when it had been a very very long time since anyone had eaten popcorn while sitting on this couch? That was weird. He'd think more on that if he had the bandwidth for it.

But Chuck Bartowski did not have the bandwidth for it.

Everything had avalanched on top of his head all at once and he was now buried.

Lying facedown on the basement couch where he and his best friend used to stream their Twitch show. A little show that was now big…and in the hands of a bastard Brit who looked and sounded like James Bond, who would absolutely be butchering the entire intent of the channel.

He would strip it of everything that made it good, sterilize it, and drops a million ads on top of it. Maybe even pop-up ads. Uggghh.

Aw shit, that meant James Bond was ruined for him now too.

Would he ever be able to watch Octopussy again without thinking about the rich producer who'd stolen everything from him? No. God damn it.

The sounds of Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" blasted so loudly throughout the basement that it was likely doing damage to his eardrums, but they probably were already a little damaged from all the metal shows he'd been to since he was a teenager. And who cared if his ears were damaged anyway? It wouldn't matter one bit if someone simply lifted up this couch and plopped it down in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, kicking him off of it and onto the pavement.

Here lie the remains of a failed failure who failed at all the things there was to fail at: keeping a job, keeping a best friend, keeping a girlfriend, keeping his dignity in tact. Poor little Chuck. His parents didn't want him and nobody else did either.

Least of all a super sweet, adorable, funny, talented, brilliant, gorgeous rock star of a woman who was currently on her way to the highest heights of metal fame. And it was what she deserved, too. Only she'd get there without his help, because like Morgan said, he couldn't help her. He wasn't even mad at Morgan, and he knew he shouldn't have lashed out because his buddy was only doing what best friends and people who love you were supposed to do: telling you the truth, even the hard truth. Maybe especially that.

The hard truth he was currently dealing with was that he didn't have what it took to help the woman he loved achieve her dreams. Someone else did. Someone with an ulterior motive who intended on using Sarah's passion for Critical Hellfire's success to snag her interest romantically.

"Grooossssssssssss," he groaned into the cushion.

But really, why did it smell like popcorn?

He knew how he was being. He knew this was just a bunch of wallowing, and wallowing was unhealthy and didn't help anything. He knew it. And he was doing it anyway. Didn't he earn a bit of wallowing? A bit of self-pity?

Fuck, this had been the worst twenty-four hours ever.

He hadn't slept at all last night, and then this morning, he'd gone straight to Sarah's for some semblance of comfort, only to have her cast him out, too. He'd lost track of his anger, his self-control out the window, and his mouth had just…moved. And things had come out. Things he didn't mean. Why had he cut at her like that? What in the hell was wrong with him? What had she doen to deserve that? Nothing.

And now he'd fucked up one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

The best thing that had ever happened to him. Bar none.

Of course Sarah wasn't interested in Cole Barker. Definitely not romantically, at least. That was offensive. Even thinking about the possibility was offensive towards her.

It didn't mean Cole wasn't using Critical Hellfire to try to get to her, because he was. Instead of trying to explain what he was seeing to her in a mature way, his fight with Morgan and the stinging pain of losing his show made him lash out and he sounded like he was saying it only took nice suits, an English accent, money, and a gross mixture of privilege and power to turn Sarah Walker's head. The same Sarah Walker who's teased him, telling him she'd use her success to emulate Dolly Parton by giving kids books for free?

He did it anyway. He said those things and in the way he'd said them, too.

He'd hurt her. He'd seen it in her face. The way her eyes fastened on him with surprise at first, followed by the crumbling into hurt, and finally, she'd slid a mask over all of it. That unreadable hard look had been the worst part. Because it meant she was protecting herself from him. Because he'd made himself something she needed to protect herself from.

He was an idiot.

Exhibit A as to why a guy like him didn't deserve to be with a girl like that. He couldn't fuckin' handle it. He couldn't fuckin' handle her. Not that she needed to be handled, per se, but she was wild, adventurous, a bad ass…and she had aspirations that were so much higher than being with a guy who, now, was probably going back to the Nerd Herd at the Buy More. If they even had room for him there. God, if he even got rejected by Big Mike at the Buy More, he really would lie in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard.

And now he had to maneuver all of this without his best friend and right hand man. Because he'd let his anger over Cole firing him and stealing his show cause him to lash out at Morgan, too. He'd never been that way before. Lashing out at people. Mean. Snarky.

Last night and this morning had been a side of him that had lain dormant for a long, long time, not since his parents left at least.

But what Cole did had destroyed years of hard work, research that had been conducted. He and Morgan had seriously tackled this endeavor with passion and damn, he was sure it was the hardest he'd ever worked on anything in his life. They'd both broken out of the rut they'd slipped into, doing jobs that didn't require much out of either of them. They dove in headfirst with GnR.

Hopping from metal scene to metal scene, rock club to rock club, bar to bar, getting themselves on the map with the Twitch channel, forging relationships and partnerships, making connections and working to keep them, building a committed viewership.

All of it went up in smoke because a Goliath swept in to stomp the shit out of a David. Because this wasn't the fuckin' Bible, it was real life. And in real life, Davids didn't beat Goliaths. Underdogs only won sometimes in sports, but this wasn't sports either. It was a couple of guys with limited funds and a good product, having the good product jacked by a guy with unlimited funds, kicked out of the way, into a gutter. Where they belonged.

Would anything in his life ever stay? Would anyone?

Suddenly, the basement was silent, Whitesnake gone. His ears were ringing still.

And Ellie Bartowski's voice cut through the silence. "What in the hellare you doing?"

Chuck raised his voice and moaned a muffled, "Heeere I go agaainnnn on my oowwwnnn…going down the only rooooaddd I've ever knoooo-ooooown. Like a drifter I was boooorn to walk alooooone! And I've MADE UP MAH MAHHHNNNNDDD—"

"Stop! Stop it!" His sister was above him then, reaching down to grab him by the shirt and shake him. "Snap out of it. What is wrong with you? What are you doing?"

"I'm listening to music. Or I was. 'Til you turned it off. Is that a crime now too?" He turned his head so that his cheek was against the popcorn cushion. "Because lately it seems like I can't do anything right."

"Oh, Jesus. All right." She flapped her hand in his direction a few times. "Scoot." He did and she sat on the couch next to his prone body. "What is going on?"

"I was listening to my favorite song."

"Yeah, it must be," she said sarcastically. "Because I got home from a twenty-four hour shift an hour ago and it's been on repeat since then." He pursed his lips, slowly lifting his eyes to her face. "I finally had enough and came down here. I'm supposed to sleep with this racket?"

Chuck frowned, genuinely contrite. "Sorry. I didn't know you were home."

"Doesn't matter. Explain to me what all of this is."

"I lost my show, my best friend, my girlfriend… All I have is this couch that mysteriously smells like popcorn, Whitesnake's masterpiece 'Here I Go Again', and my sister."

"Devon and I were watching a movie down here a few days ago and he spilled popcorn."

"Oh thank God! I thought I was going crazy!"

She sighed tiredly. "Chuck. Sweetie. Talk."

Well, here went nothing.

"They probably aren't archiving last night's episode because they sent their heinously misogynistic sponsor on, surprising me and Morgan with him. Then they just…handed us these flashcards with stupid questions about his sexist dating books, so I wrote on the backs of the cards with Sharpie and made the viewers laugh by mocking the asshole. Then Cole fired me."

She looked immediately pissed off, but then paused, furrowing her brow. "Wait, Cole...?"

"Cole Barker. That's the—"

"Oh yeah. Right." She shook her head. "The producer guy. I forgot his name for a second. It's a forgettable name."

"No, it isn't. It sounds like James Bond," he said miserably.

"No. James Bond sounds like James Bond. Cole Barker sounds like a dog trapped in a coal mine."

In spite of everything, he snorted, sending her an appreciative look.

"Well, fuck that guy. Fuck his big platform or whatever. Just do your own show here in our basement like usual."

Now he knew why her reaction wasn't as intense as he was expecting. She didn't know just how bad this was.

"I can't," he said numbly.

"Why not?" She shrugged.

"Morgan and I signed the contract. And in the contract, Cole Barker and his production company own the show now. If I try to do it here, he'll sue me so hard I lose my car, we lose the house, we lose everything."

Ellie gaped. "Is he really that evil?"

"Yyyyyep."

She sighed heavily, looking as upset as he'd expected now that she realized the full gravity. "Well, you and Morgan will figure something out. The two of you with your heads together? Nothing can stop you." She rubbed his upper back comfortingly. It felt good after all of the barbed words he'd had to thrown at him over the last twenty-four hours. No matter what, he could always count on her.

"He's not gonna want his head anywhere near mine after the fight we got into last night."

She was silent for a long time. "Wait…what? No. You must be joking. You didn't just say you and Morgan had a fight."

"Mhm."

"Morgan…Grimes? The little bearded troll who spends every waking moment of his life here in our home drooling at me even in front of my very serious boyfriend who also lives here?"

"That one." He pointed at her affirmatively.

"You guys…don't…fight."

"Well, I guess that's an inaccurate statement because we just did. Last night."

She shook her head, obviously completely stumped. "Did he disagree with you making fun of the trashy dating book sponsor guy?"

"No, not at all. He was kind of making fun, too, just not as bad as I was." He sighed. "It's just that Cole got me seeing red. After we went to a sponsor break or whatever, the asshole pulled me into a private room and lit into me, said some really offensive shit about me, where I am in life, and about our viewers, our fans. Then he fired me and told me the show was his because of the contract. I was pissed off. So I stomped out of the place and just started…walking. Wherever. Trying to keep myself from going back and trying to tear the piece of shit's face off. Or…trying to tear it off. He probably has some cool black belt in some martial arts or has weapons training or something stupid impressive like that. All James Bond-ish. Bastard."

"I'd say it's likelier he's paid other people around him to have that training because people with that much money are lazy as fuck," Ellie surmised.

"Fair point. Morgan had no idea what was going on, they tried to go back to the show with just him on the couch after a word from our sponsor, and he was trapped there with the camera on him, silent, freaking out, and they finally cut, stopped the stream altogether I guess, and he bolted out of there, grabbed the Herder, tried to call me and I…didn't answer. I wasn't paying attention to my phone, I was—"

"Stomping around West Hollywood with righteous little anger fists at your side?" Ellie asked.

He gave her an annoyed look. "You don't think I had reason to be angry?"

"Of course you did. Fuck that guy. He's an asshole and we're going to take him down. Obviously. But just ditching Morgan like that? Not answering your phone? I would've been freaking out if I knew all this was going down, phewwwww." She blew her bangs out of her face.

"I know. Morgan almost called you when he couldn't find me. But he finally did find me and he made me get in the car. And then he tanned my ass. But-But I'd just been fired from my own show. What was I supposed to do, go back onto the set and complete the mortification by being like, 'Come on, Morgan, let's go. They don't appreciate us here!'?"

"I mean, yeah, kind of. He would've left with you. You could walk around LA with anger fists together and figure out what to do about it. So you guys got into a fight over it, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you side with Morgan."

"I'm not siding."

"And then this morning I hadn't slept at all because I lost everything I worked my ass off to build to a rich asshole, and all I wanted was to see Sarah. She hadn't watched any of it, and when I told her, she was pissed off at Cole. But she's still doing the music video with his production company! Like, what is that?!"

Ellie winced. "Oh. Well, that's…not great, but also, can you really blame her?"

He scrambled up to sit properly. "Yes, actually! Working with the guy who purposely tanked your boyfriend's career and stole his show? I can blame her for it."

"But it isn't just about her, is it? I mean, for her, it isn't just about her." Chuck gave Ellie a long look. "What?"

"He's clearly using Critical Hellfire to try to get to Sarah." Ellie's eyes went wide. "I'm not just being a jealous boyfriend, okay? Morgan noticed the same thing! All of this—the music video, the contract, it's all about Sarah."

Ellie sighed. "Whether that's true or not, this isn't just her chance at stardom she'd be tanking, it's Zondra's and Mac's and Dylan's chance too. The band. Not just her. She can't unilaterally decide that because he screwed over her boyfriend she's going to tear up this contract that might get Critical Hellfire a record deal. Other people are involved besides just her."

Chuck frowned deeply. "Okay, maybe…that's an angle I didn't think about when I had a fury like nothing else I've ever felt before raging inside of me."

"You have every reason to feel rage. You aren't some robot. Nobody can withstand something like what that piece of shit did and not be angry. But maybe Morgan and Sarah didn't deserve the rage to be tossed at them so carelessly?" She winced. "Sorry, not what you want to hear right now."

"No, I know it's kind of your job to tell me things I don't want to hear but should hear. This is all so fucked, though, El. What did I do to deserve this? I was minding my own business, hosting this show with my buddy late at night, talking about metal and playing video games. Working hard to get it where it's gotten, bending over backwards to get our feet in doors and meet certain people. Then this guy shows up out of nowhere, says he's a producer, offers us a contract to go bigger, expand our audience, make enough money to live really comfortably off of the stuff we're passionate about. I didn't ask for any of this crazy stuff to go down. I just…wanted to be happy." He slumped against the back of the couch and hung his head. "Now I don't have anything. Least of all, happiness."

"It's easy for you to take what you're feeling right now and assume things about other people and how they're feeling. I know. I've done it. We've all done it. But are you sure you don't have the two people you wronged? Come on, you lashed out, you said the wrong things. You could…apologize. Apologies exist. They can happen and maybe make things better?"

Chuck shook his head. He felt like he'd gone past the point of no return with both of them. Though maybe she was right and maybe it just felt that way right now.

"Okay, so instead of that, you're going to sit here and blast on repeat this stupid Whitesnake song that makes you feel self-righteous about your self-pity and aloneness. You could, ooooh, I dunnooooo, fight for them?! I mean, Morgan is Morgan. You two can sit down, apologize to each other, figure it out. That isn't something I'm worried about. But Sarah? Come on. You have to fight if you really care about her." She grabbed his shoulder and leaned in, clenching her jaw. "Is this really my brother? Or some loser waving at life as it passes him by because it's too hard to fight for the things he loves?"

His jaw fell to his lap. "Did you just call me a loser? You just called me a loser!"

Ellie gave an eye roll that was so intense she nearly tipped over from the power of it. "Oh Godddddd," she moaned. "Save me from this dodo bird brother of mine. I did not call you a loser. My brother is a fighter, so I don't want him folding up in a shell like a loser."

He pouted.

He couldn't help it.

"This all feels very bad in my heart," he breathed, swallowing hard.

His sister tilted her head, her green eyes going soft. "Awww. C'mere." She wrapped him up in her arms and pulled him close. He slumped all of his upper body weight against her, and she held him steadfast, squeezing. "I know this is all terrible. And I'm so sorry this bastard bamboozled you guys. But this isn't the time to throw in the towel. You're a Bartowski. Bartowskis are fighters. Otherwise you an' me wouldn't be here after everything our parents put us through when they ditched us, right?"

He nodded. "You're right. I don't know where to begin. I dunno if I have the energy to begin. Without Games N Rock Sessions, I don't have a paycheck. How do I pay rent? How do I cover my car bills? I still have money left over from that check Cole first gave me and Morgan as an advance."

"Well, first of all, you live here. With me and Devon. We're not going to be like, 'You aren't paying a third of the rent so we're kicking you out!' That's never going to happen in a million years. So put that out of your head. You will always have a home with me no matter what."

Oh.

Were his eyes welling up? His emotions were kind of…volatile was a good way to put it. Oh no. Oh, he was sniffling.

Ellie didn't comment on it, but he knew she was well aware of what was happening because she just held onto him tighter.

"I'm leaving Morgan and Sarah to you. You're the one who said the things to them that you said. So you handle that. But there has to be a way to fix the Games N Rock Sessions situation, too. And that I think I can help you with. I just can't think of the how at this very moment because I'm practically dead I'm so exhausted."

Chuck was positive there weren't any leftover traces of the momentary tear session he'd just had, and he pulled back to give her a concerned look. "OhGod, that's right. You just got off a twenty-four hour shift. Please go get some sleep. I promise, I won't put that Sadsack Chuck theme on again. At least, not as loud." He winced.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, well—Wait. Hold on. You never did…tell me what happened with you and Sarah. You lashed out, okay, but…what did you say?"

"Well, she kicked me out of her place for it. That's all you really need to know," he said glumly.

"Yikes." She frowned. "You really laid into her about not wanting to cancel the contract with CB Productions, huh?"

Chuck winced, shrinking a bit. "Um…"

Her green eyes went wide. "Oh God. What'd you say?"

"I maybe…insinuated something I didn't really mean to insinuate. I was hurt and angry and I let those feelings take over…"

"Chuck…?"

"Cole Barker is a super rich producer who has the kind of money and opportunities just sitting there unused and wasted in his pocket, enough of them that he can just…toss that at anybody he fucking wants, whenever he fucking wants. Yeah?" Ellie nodded. "Well, he's made it pretty clear—to me, and for what it's worth, Morgan too, like I said earlier. He's made it clear that he wants Sarah Walker. And he recognizes that she's got this one-track mind, this passion, around getting Critical Hellfire a record deal, getting them on the map, not just in LA, but all over. Same as I recognized it. Only difference between him and me is he can get them there while I can't." He crossed his arms, frowning. He decided not to meet his sister's gaze, knowing he'd see disappointment there. "I told her he's using the band to get to her. And guys like that always get what they want."

Ellie was silent.

"I accidentally insinuated that she's maybe accepting that and using it to get what she wants for the band, too. As if that's the only way she can get a gig, not her talent, not the band's talent."

His sister put her face in her hands. "Oh, brother, did you put your foot in it."

"Yeah. I said it all wrong. And it hurt her. I wish I could take it back. Even still, I'm not wrong about Cole using the band to try to get Sarah in bed with him." He grit his teeth, hating how it sounded, how it tasted coming out of his mouth. "It's shitty! It's not fair! That band is incredible! All of them are so talented, it makes me crazy watching them perform knowing they don't even have an album yet. Just a couple of demos of covers and one of the originals that Sarah wrote which is fantastic, too. Because of course she's an amazing songwriter on top of everything else. And I just tossed this incredibly special thing I had with her in a dumpster and slammed the lid shut. Fuuuuuucckkkkk…" He groaned.

"All is not lost. Okay? We can get her back."

"We?"

"Yes," she half-growled. "For once you're dating a grown adult with goals who cares about you the way you deserve to be cared about, no ultimatums, no controlling bullshit…and I adore her and I am not about to watch this peter out because you are a dumdum. If she cares so much about this band, then she'll recognize who it is that sincerely wants Critical Hellfire to go manganese."

"Platinum." She gave him a slow smirk and he snorted. "Oh. You're fuckin' with me. Good one."

"You have to apologize and reiterate that, Chuck. That you're the one who gets what this means to her, to all of them. Whether they decide to still do the music video or not, that isn't your decision. It's theirs. And if you want Sarah in your life, well…maybe you'll have to find a way to understand that Critical Hellfire is her first priority. At least for now. You've only been dating for, what, like, a month?" She wrinkled up her face sheepishly and shrugged. "I can't blame her for going after that potential record deal. It's her dream. It's the whole band's dream."

Ellie wasn't wrong and he knew she wasn't wrong. He swallowed hard, hanging his head, knowing she made it sound a lot simpler than it was.

"Okay, and here's the only problem I see with that. Whether I'm the guy who genuinely believes in Critical Hellfire's insane talent or not, whether I think they deserve stardom, success, the whole nine yards, I'm not the guy who can hand that to them, or guide them toward it even, at least not in any meaningful way. And that's where I'll lose. Every single time."

She gave him a droll look. "Men really do need help." He gave her a dark look. "You know, sweetie, contrary to popular belief, a dude helping a woman get someplace, accomplish something, et cetera, doesn't automatically make her feel compelled to sleep with him."

Chuck opened his mouth to argue with her because that wasn't at all what he meant by any of that.

But Ellie continued before he could.

"And you know what? Maybe it's okay that other people help her sometimes. Maybe it doesn't always have to be you. And if it isn't you this time, she isn't going to care about you any less. She isn't going to be like, 'Wow, Chuck didn't singlehandedly get my band signed to a record label, so I don't love him anymore.' Right?"

Chuck froze, deciding not to dwell too hard on his sister's use of the word—that word—which hadn't been used between him and Sarah yet. And maybe he didn't just freeze because he'd heard the word come from Ellie's lips. Maybe he froze because he realized it was the perfect word for what he felt when it came to Sarah Walker, lead singer and bassist of the metal band Critical Hellfire. And maybe he was dwelling anyway. Because…

"Ellie…"

"What?"

"I love her. I'm in love with her."

She just gave him a flat look. "Noooo, reallllyyyyyy…?"

"Okayyy with the heavy sarcasm…"

"Chuck. I know you're in love with her. We all do."

He paused, frowning thoughtfully. He was in love with Sarah Walker and had been since that first night he saw her wail onstage, only for her to kick the shit out of those morons who knocked glass and alcohol onto her when she stepped offstage later. When did he know he was in love? That was harder to gauge, but it was probably sometime during that first date.

"Well, this is the first time it's coming out of my mouth in…out-loud words. So excuse me if I'm taking in the moment. Geez." He gave her an annoyed look.

"Great, but take it in quick because you have a mess you need to clean up and I can only help you with some of it." She gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I'm sleeping now. When I wake up, you better at least have brought Morgan back on board. We have planning to do and we need him."

Chuck could only stare straight ahead, blinking at the spot where his sister had just been.


A/N: Lo siento. I know this chapter was one long conversation between Chuck and Ellie, but with him essentially cut off from everyone else, having lost everything (at least in his mind at this point), having Ellie step up and step in, and be that solid, supportive presence she's been for him throughout his whole life, especially in the worst times, felt really important. For his growth, especially. I always felt like Ellie in canon was balancing on a tightrope, support but not so much support that he's incapable of doing things on his own, giving him the hard truths but not tearing him down, pushing him to reach for more (folks always say she's "bossy" but I roll my eyes at that opinion)... I think Ellie in this fic in particular has sort of shielded him from some experiences, some growth, in spite of the shitty parents abandoning them thing. Maybe BECAUSE of it? And now maybe she's realizing that and is prodding him with important truths and then stepping to the side to let him fix his relationships on his own, while making sure he knows she's in his corner through it all.

ANYWAY, thanks for reading. Please review if you can!

-SC