AUTHOR'S NOTE I actually feel bad for Jill in this fiction. I can't stand the canon character, but I can state without any hesitation that if my boyfriend/fiance/husband spent his life working in a covert job and was missing for days on end then coming home and not being able to talk about what he'd done and him spending more time with his friends than in the company of myself, then his ass would be getting ditched quicker than I have ever done anything before! To be honest, in my opinion, it's Chuck who is treating Jill wrong and not Jill who's treating Chuck badly. It's hard for somebody in the military to date somebody not in it. It's probably the hardest job to maintain a relationship and a normal life in (at least in my opinion). On the flip side though, just like Chuck told her in Chapter 6, she did know what she signed up for once she got with him, so if she suddenly no longer likes or accepts the situation that they are in, then she should just move on, right? RIGHT? (I'm expecting you die-hard Charah shippers to be shouting RIGHT! Right now!)
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Eight: House Hunting
Monday, 22 October, 2007
Stirling Lines
Hereford
United Kingdom
"I feel like crap," Bryce declared to Red Team who were all gathered outside of the Killing House for training exercises.
Bryce's sudden declaration caused some of his teammates, including Sarah, to laugh because Sarah wasn't feeling too well herself right now after Red Team's activities at the pub together the previous night. Sarah didn't usually drink as much as she had last night, but she had, had a fantastic evening with her teammates. However, despite her activities the previous night, Sarah and the rest of her team were now completely focused on her job once more and the task in hand which was to continue their Close Quarters Battle training and to assault the Killing House.
"You piss-heads shouldn't have drunk so much then, should you?" Cole said as he glanced around the team. Cole along with Jamie Hughes were the only two of members of Red Team who didn't end up drunk last night because they had driving duties and so they could only have two pints of lager each.
"Can I play the role of the hostage with Bryce? Because I feel like crap also," John Murray asked, which caused the team to burst into laughter as most of them also began to shake their heads in approval.
"No. Cole and Jamie are playing the hostages today. Us six drunken bastards will be assaulting," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated to his team which caused most of Red Team to gasp and wince except for Cole and Jamie Hughes, who were both very much looking forward to seeing their teammates suffer. Call it some payback for last night.
"Oh, Chris, you callous bastard!" John Murray said, which quickly caused the team to laugh together once more as heads began to nod in agreement.
"Right, let's gear up. We'll be assaulting Room 2A through the windows using explosive entry. Chuck, Bryce, Sarah and John, you'll be scaling the ladders, and you will blow out the windows with shaped charges while myself and Dan will make a feint assault through the ground floor. Let's do this," Staff Sergeant MacDonald commanded, and the team nodded as they got to work and they began to gear up to prepare the exercise…
A few minutes later
Red Team was now all in position at the sophisticated training facility. Cole Barker and Jamie Hughes had been secured and restrained inside Room 2A whilst Chris and Dan were in place to make a feint assault on the ground floor, Bryce and John were in position to assault window two of Room 2A, while Chuck and Sarah were in position to assault window one of Room 2A.
The explosives to blow out the windows were all set, and Sarah was standing just behind Chuck as Sarah and the rest of her team waited for the command given to assault.
"Standby. Standby. Execute!" Captain Wallace, who was commanding the exercises that would take place today, came onto comms.
With the order now given to execute, the shaped charges on windows one and two of Room 2A detonated, and the windows blew out as Chuck began ascending the ladder and Sarah quickly followed on behind her teammate. Chuck prepared a flashbang, and he lobbed it into the room through the window, and he was inside the room in an instant. Sarah quickly scaled up after him, and she entered inside the room as Chuck began to engage the first target in sight. In Sarah's view inside the room was a second target, and she lined up her MP5, and she began to engage the static target before she shifted her gaze to the right where she noticed Bryce and John were also now inside Room 2A, and they were engaging two other targets inside the room. Sarah then shifted her glance back to the left of her, and she watched as Chuck lined up his rifle, and he shot out the TV in the room which was showing something related to Manchester United. She immediately smirked at her teammate's humour, when suddenly, she heard Bryce say, "You bastard!" towards Chuck which caused her smirk to extend to suppressed laughter instead as she quickly continued on with her tasking, and she took out her knife, and she began to cut the binds from around Jamie Hughes before immediately replacing them with plasticuffs, and she instantly began to drag her comrade out of the room. Chuck quickly followed on behind her, accompanied by Cole, who Chuck was dragging out of the room. The assaulters then linked up with Chris and Dan who had secured the top of the stairwell, and the team of eight quickly rushed outside to complete the exercise…
A few minutes later
Some of the support and logistics personnel of 22 Reg had arrived at the Killing House, and they were already beginning to remove the broken objects and targets from Room 2A. Room 2A would be refurbished by the support personnel to assault again at some point within the next 24 hours. One of the support personnel was now carrying out a destroyed television set, which caused immediate laughter amongst the team except for Bryce.
"Alright, who shot the TV?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked as he glanced around the team with a smirk looking for the culprit which caused Sarah to snicker as she knew precisely who it was that shot out the TV.
"He did!" Bryce said with venom as he began to point at Chuck, which caused the whole team to laugh.
"Why?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked Chuck.
"It was Man United. I'd sooner be tortured by the Taliban than watch them shite!" Chuck retorted nonchalantly, and most of the team except for Bryce began to nod and chuckle approvingly.
"Fair enough," MacDonald said in acceptance.
"I'll remember this! And if I see Liverpool, then the same is happening to you!" Bryce said with conviction.
"Who says I support Liverpool?" Chuck retorted with a straight face.
"Well, it's either the Scousers, Leeds United or Manchester City if you hate United and I doubt it's the latter two because of your posh Cheshire accent," Bryce said.
"Fair enough. Well then yeah, I do happen to support the greatest football club in the world, Liverpool FC," Chuck declared, and Jamie Hughes nodded in approval whilst most of the other members of Red Team, including Sarah, began to shake their heads in complete disagreement.
"Watch it, Chuck. You know that the greatest club in world football is Newcastle United," Big Dan said in his Geordie accent.
"Big Dan meant to say Glasgow Rangers," John Murray interjected in his Glaswegian accent.
"Did I fuck!" Big Dan said in total disagreement with his comrade.
"You're all wrong actually. The best club in the world is Chelsea," Sarah said in her posh, London accent, and every single member of her team began to wince and look at her in complete disgust.
"Yuck! Sarah, that's disgusting! I think you should join the SBS effective immediately. We can't have you here anymore," Chuck said with a straight face.
"Agreed," the rest of her team quickly followed on, and she looked at them all smugly.
O-x-O-x-O-x-O
Later that day
Red Team had just clocked off duty for the day, and Chuck was preparing to take Sarah to the apartment that she was looking to lease. Chuck had just arrived outside his teammate's on-base accommodation in the barracks housing their squadron, and he raised his hand to the door to knock, and he awaited a response. Usually, he would just enter if it was one of the guys, but because his new teammate so happened to be female, he was trying hard to change his ways and his manners to be more accommodating just in case she was presently half-naked because she was changing. It would have been no big deal to see one of his male teammates without a shirt on, but he was pretty sure that if he saw Sarah without a shirt on, then that wouldn't be a very wise idea at all because he didn't know how he would react to that!
"Come in," she called out to him, and he immediately entered inside.
"Hi," he greeted his teammate with a warm, loving grin.
"Hey," she replied as she returned his smile.
"Are you ready to head to see the apartment then?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks again for this, Chuck," she said as she held her loving smile, and he continued his grin at her.
"Sarah, it's no problem at all," he said sincerely.
Still holding her smile on-toward him, she moved to stand, and they departed her quarters together.
"Though if I had have known you were a Chelsea fan, I wouldn't have offered in a million years," he couldn't resist adding in more playful banter, and he started to laugh at his own words, and she suppressed a laugh.
"Well, it's too late now, you have already offered," she said with a loving smile.
He shook his head. "It's not too late. I could leave you hanging," he continued in his attempts to wind her up.
"If you did, then I would kick your ass," she said in a playful tone of her own.
"In your dreams!" Chuck retorted, rolling his eyes at her.
"I could take you," she said confidently to him, and he furiously began to shake his head in disagreement.
"Do you want to bet? You're welcome to try," he retorted in a confident tone of his own with a wide grin.
"I'm sorry to have accepted your invitation to be your friend now anyway, with you being a Scouser and all," she teased, and he began to wince.
"Sarah, I'm from Cheshire, not Merseyside," he informed her.
"There's not much difference," she argued back playfully with a wide smirk.
He furiously shook his head, and he began fighting off the urge to smirk. "There is, actually, there is a big, gigantic difference. In fact, I'm now gonna take you to both counties one day, and you'll see the difference."
"What if I don't wanna go?" she asked as they remained idle in the hallway of the barracks as they gazed at and engaged in banter with each other.
"That's tough. I'll tie you up and force you to," he teased as they began to depart the barracks and they headed over to Chuck's car.
Sarah scoffed playfully before responding, "Some teammate you are."
"I could say the same about you. You're either mocking me or threatening to beat me up. Tell me, Sarah, are you always this hostile?" he asked, furthering the exchange.
"Only to people I don't like," she said with her continued wide smirk slash smile, and he winced.
"Just hurry up and get in the car before I run you over!" he declared, and the teammates continued their grins and their glances at each other as they climbed into Chuck's car...
A short while later
Chuck pulled his car to a stop inside the premises containing the apartment that Sarah was looking to lease within walking distance of the City Centre of Hereford.
"Oh my, it's beautiful," Chuck declared as his eyes connected onto a converted Victorian-era building that was now modern apartments.
Sarah beamed him a loving smile. "Wait until you see inside," she said with a glint of happiness in her eye as the two teammates depart Chuck's car and they walked over to a waiting estate agent that Sarah had contacted and agreed to meet at 5:30.
"Hello," the young, black-haired female estate agent greeted them with a warm smile.
"Hi," Sarah said as she returned the warm smile.
"Hiya," Chuck replied as he did the same.
"I assume you are Sarah?" the estate agent asked, glancing at Sarah.
Sarah nodded, holding her smile.
"And you are?" the estate agent shifting her attention to Chuck asked.
"Chuck," he greeted her warmly.
"It's nice to meet you both. I'm Rebecca," the estate agent said, and the three young adults shared another warm smile. "So, will you both be renting this together?" she asked, and Chuck and Sarah immediately turned awkward and fidgety, and they began to laugh nervously.
"No. We aren't together. It's just for me," Sarah laughed, and Chuck furiously nodded his head.
"Yeah, we're just friends and work colleagues," Chuck added in, and Sarah also nodded.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I assumed you both were an item," Rebecca said with a warm smile.
"It's ok," Sarah said reassuringly.
"I've had far worse assumptions made at me," Chuck joked, and the two women began to laugh.
"So have I," Rebecca said as she began to smirk.
"Me too," Sarah also added in.
"I'll take you up to the apartment now. It's up on the first floor (one story above ground)."
"Ok, thanks," Sarah replied.
Chuck and Sarah began to follow Rebecca inside the converted Victorian era property.
"This building is a former hospital. It was a hospital for eye disorders," Rebecca stated to Chuck and Sarah as they began to head up the stairs to the first floor.
"Yeah, I could see the engraving above the entrance," Sarah said, and Chuck nodded.
The two teammates and the attractive estate agent then arrive upstairs on the first floor.
"What line of work are you both in if I may ask?" Rebecca asked.
"Army," Sarah replied with a smile, and Chuck nodded affirmatively.
"Oh, I see," Rebecca said as she paused, and she began to glance at them with a look of respect as she likely knew just which Regiment they were both serving in...
"Yeah, she's the bossy sergeant," Chuck joked, and Sarah moved to swat his arm as the three adults continued to be friendly with each other.
"Are you sure you're both not an item?" Rebecca asked them once more as she continued to smile at them both.
"Positive," Chuck responded with a nod of his head.
"Yep, I could never date a Scouser," Sarah teased with a loving smile, and she rotated her glance between Chuck and Rebecca.
"Ouch!" Chuck winced as he also rotated his glance between Sarah and Rebecca.
"Actually, that's a Cheshire accent, not a Liverpudlian one," Rebecca interjected.
"Oh, thank you! See, Sarah, in your face!" Chuck retorted, which caused the three adults to laugh once more.
"Well, here we are then," Rebecca declared as they came to a stop outside of Apartment 8. "I would offer to give you a tour, but I have had the pleasure of finding a home for a few members of your Regiment over the years, and I know and understand that you like to be in your own company and to do things yourselves, so I will leave you both to it," the friendly estate agent declared.
"Thank you," Sarah replied with a warm gaze.
Chuck nodded while also glancing at the estate agent with a friendly demeanour.
Rebecca then began to open up the door to the apartment, and Sarah stepped inside, followed by Chuck. On entering inside and into the entrance hall, their gaze connected onto four doors leading to the rooms of the apartment.
"This should be the bathroom if my bearing of the plan I saw when searching online is correct," Sarah stated, and she moved to open the door a few steps to the right of where they were standing. Sarah then entered inside, and Chuck followed in behind.
"That's a lot of tiles," Chuck declared on coming into contact with a lot of cream coloured tiles all over the floor and walls of the bathroom.
Sarah paused from her apartment viewing to glance behind herself, and she began to smile at him. "It's small, but a bathroom is exactly that, a bathroom," Sarah joked, and Chuck suppressed a laugh and nodded.
"It looks very modern. I like it," Chuck stated.
"You've seen nothing yet," she retorted, holding her smile and gaze.
"Stop making me jealous!" Chuck shooted back and Sarah began to laugh in approval.
The teammates then depart the bathroom, and they proceed to walk a few steps until they arrive at the next door, and Sarah moves to open it, and Chuck follows her inside as their gaze connected onto a large open plan living space. The first half of the plan was the kitchen, and the entire floor was black tiled with marble counters and wooden cupboards all over. The second half of the plan contained the living room, which was cream carpeted, and the walls and ceiling were a matching colour.
"Sarah, I want to live here! I might rent it instead of you!" Chuck declared, and Sarah paused from her viewing as she turned back to face him once more, and she began to glare daggers at her comrade.
"Chuck, if you steal this place from me then I will hurt you," Sarah declared with conviction.
"It's worth it," he retorted, teasingly.
"Chuck, don't you even think about it!" Sarah warned as she pointed her finger at him, and the two teammates then walked deeper into the open plan as they began to inspect the kitchen which came with appliances already waiting for use.
"I wonder how much rent they will charge me for this," Chuck said, continuing his winding up of Sarah.
"Chuck, keep it up, and you will have an accident at work tomorrow," she retorted as she continued to give an intimidating stare towards her teammate.
"Ouch, you're not playing, are you?" he asked.
"I'm glad you got the message," she retorted. "This is my apartment. Nobody else's!" she declared with conviction.
"What about sharing? What if we share it?" he asked as he danced his eyebrows at her and she smirked.
"I'm not apartment sharing with a Scouser," she retorted with a wide grin.
"Keep it coming, Sarah. I'll get you back for this," he said with conviction. "I'm very patient, and I'm very good at biding my time."
Sarah giggled at his words, and they departed from the kitchen space and towards the living space.
"Chuck, don't you dare walk on my carpet in those shoes!" Sarah stated to him as she pointed at his shoes with a wide smirk, and he put his hand on his heart.
"That's it; we're finished. In work tomorrow, I want you to put in for a transfer to air, boat or mountain troop instead," he retorted as he pointed his finger at her and he gave her a menacing stare.
"No thanks, I'm happy where I am," Sarah retorted with a joyful giggle.
"Then I'll transfer instead!" Chuck shooted back as he continued to point at her.
"And I'll join you because I'm having too much fun getting under your skin to allow you to leave," she retorted as she continued to giggle joyfully.
"Why oh why did they ever put you in mobility troop?" Chuck asked as he shook his head, and he raised his hands into the air, and he looked up at the ceiling, and he shook his fists.
"Because I'm the best," she declared with a wide smile.
"Yeah, in your dreams, missy!" Chuck laughed out, and she giggled once more.
"For that, it's time to look at the bedrooms to make you even more jealous," she declared with her continued joyful smile.
He shook his head as he also moved his hand from side to side to reinforce his point. "No thanks, I'm done. No more viewing for me. You can do that yourself."
"What if there's a hostile in one of the bedrooms and Al-Qaeda are waiting to kidnap me. I need my teammate to back me up," she teased.
"They can have you! I'll sit and watch! I might even help them actually!" he retorted as he began to chuckle.
Sarah gasped at his words. "See! I always knew there was something sinister you were hiding! Chuck Bartowski, a closet terrorist!" she said with her continued wide smile.
"Now that you know my secret, I'm gonna have to kill you!" Chuck declared as he lunged at her, and she dodged it as she giggled, and she quickly rushed off towards the two bedrooms, and Chuck followed as the two teammates entered the guest bedroom first.
"The guest bedroom," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded on them arriving inside of the room.
"Did you need a two-bedroom apartment though, Sarah?" Chuck asked, and Sarah looked behind her and at him once more.
"I didn't like the look of any one-bed apartments plus my family can stay over," she declared.
"And the team can stay over. You'll have to rename it Red Team's Bedroom'," Chuck joked.
Sarah frowned, shaking her head. "Really, Chuck? You really think seven of you can fit in here?" she asked.
He nodded. "Sure, that would be easy. No problem at all," he joked, and she smirked at him.
"Besides, with how loud you all are, I would be kicked and turfed out just as soon as I move in. The team are never coming in here!" Sarah laughed to him, and he winced and shook his head once more.
"Oof, wait until I snitch on you and tell them what you've just said!" he teased.
"They won't believe you," she retorted as she shook her head.
"I can be convincing," he responded as he danced his eyebrows at her.
"I can be even more convincing!" she laughed back as she danced her own eyebrows, and she began to smirk.
"Oh, so that's the way you want to play it," he responded, and she held her smirk at him.
Chuck and Sarah then departed the guest bedroom, and they entered into the master bedroom.
"Wow, I like it. It's the perfect size for me when I move in," Chuck joked, and Sarah gave him evil daggers once more.
"Ok, now you're pushing it, Chuck," she laughed to him.
"In fact, I'm going to Rebecca right now to tell her I'll take it," Chuck furthered the joke, and he turned away from Sarah, and he started walking before he watched his comrade dash in front of him blocking him from being able to exit the room and he smirked at her.
"Going somewhere?" she joked as she gazed into his eyes.
"Yeah, past you," he responded as he nodded his head.
"I'd like to see you try," she retorted.
"Here it comes, watch me," he retorted as he immediately walked into Sarah's proximity and the two teammates began to tussle and grapple with each other as Sarah immediately attempted to kick and sweep Chuck's leg to ground him onto the floor. He laughed it off, and he steadied his balance as the two teammates continued to grapple with each other's arms which was quite a mismatch for Sarah because Chuck was six-foot-three, and he had incredible muscle definition all over from his eight years in the army compared to Sarah being five-foot-seven and having a more petite frame. Chuck managed to grab and pin Sarah against the wall with relative ease, and he smirked and chuckled into her face as the two teammates continued to tussle with each other against the wall of the apartment.
"Chuck, I know an easy way out of this, but I don't want to hurt you," Sarah declared as she glanced down his frame towards his pants because if being honest, her teammate's grip on her was too powerful and there was only one way for her to get out of this.
"Sarah, a knee to the nuts isn't gonna loosen this grip on you I can assure you," he responded, and she immediately sharply brought her knee up to him to connect onto his groin, and his grip suddenly loosened, and he began to screech in discomfort.
"Ow! Jesus!" he cried out as he removed his hands from Sarah and down to his crotch instead.
"You were saying?" she laughed approvingly at her actions and of his reaction though she did feel a bit bad for him because that must have hurt, but he had it coming!
"Sarah, christ!" Chuck complained as he shook his head in disgust at her.
"Chuck, I warned you," she continued to laugh as she watched her teammate bent over in pain though she was still grimacing inside as that must have hurt.
"Women have it so easy!" Chuck moaned out in discomfort from the knee he just took.
"Yeah, we do," she laughed.
"Can you ring me an ambulance?" he asked from where he was still bent over.
"Don't be a baby!" Sarah laughed to him.
"Sarah, you try getting kicked in the nuts!" he retorted as he took in a sharp breath.
"Chuck, I told you I didn't want to hurt you. All you had to do was let me go," she laughed to him once more.
"Sarah, rather than kneeing people in the nuts, you should learn how to grapple better!" Chuck retorted.
"Chuck, if I were your height, I wouldn't need to," she responded as she continued to laugh at that fun exchange they had just had together.
On Chuck recovering enough from the knee to the nuts, they continued with the final part of their viewing of Sarah's new apartment as they entered the en suite bathroom together.
"Oh, wow!" they both declared in unison.
"Sarah, you found a nice place," Chuck said as they gazed at each other once more.
"Thanks," she responded affectionately.
"So, are you going to take it then?" he then asked.
She nodded her head. "Oh, for sure. As soon as I saw the open plan, it confirmed it," she said with a smile.
"Well, you picked a good choice. I'm sure and know that the rest of the team would and will all say the same if or when they see it," Chuck said as they began to smile at each other again.
"Chuck, you have a nice home too," Sarah said sincerely to him.
They smiled at each other as Chuck then replied, "Thank you. We should probably check in with Rebecca again. I'm not sure how long we have been in here."
She nodded. "Yeah. Good idea," she said, holding her smile.
The two teammates began to depart the en suite bathroom followed by the master bedroom, and they returned to the entrance, before they began to depart the apartment once more.
"Do you find the apartment to your suiting?" the friendly estate agent asked Sarah.
Sarah smiled before responding, "I do. I want it."
Rebecca returned the smile. "Great."
"I want it too. And I'm prepared to pay more than Sarah to get it," Chuck joked, and Sarah gave him evil daggers once more.
"First come first served I'm afraid," Rebecca replied with a loving smile.
"And I thought we were friends," Chuck retorted in mock hurt, and the three adults shared laughter together.
"So would you like to move ahead with the paperwork then?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes please," Sarah said with a vibrant smile.
"Great, if you'd like to follow me," Rebecca stated.
Chuck and Sarah began to follow Rebecca as Sarah then started to complete the necessary paperwork to take on the lease…
O-x-O-x-O-x-O
A short while later
Sarah put down the pen that she had used to fill out the required paperwork to take over the lease of the apartment, and she was now free to move in whenever she chose. Once Sarah had arranged for her belongings to be driven over by her mother and sister, she was looking at around five days from now.
"Well, that's all finalized. Enjoy your new home, and if you have any questions at all, then you have the details of the landlord," Rebecca stated with a loving smile to Sarah, and she proceeded to hand over the keys to the main entrance of the building and also the keys to the door of Apartment 8.
"Thank you so much for your help," Sarah said with a loving smile.
"That's no problem at all. It's what I'm here for," Rebecca replied, and Sarah held her smile toward the friendly estate agent.
"Are you all done for the day now?" Chuck asked Rebecca.
The estate agent furiously shook her head, and with a wide smile, she said, "Oh lord no. I still have another three more viewings to attend."
A sympathetic smile took shape on both teammate's faces. "Wow," Sarah said.
"Yeah. My life isn't exciting as both of yours; I'm sure, but it pays the bills," the friendly estate agent declared.
"Yeah, and that's what matters most," Chuck said with a loving grin.
"Exactly," Rebecca replied. "Well, enjoy both of your evenings and Sarah once more, your new home."
"Thank you," Sarah said, holding her smile.
"Thanks. You too," Chuck said.
"Thank you. Bye," Rebecca said as she began to wave farewell.
"Bye," Chuck and Sarah respond to the young and friendly black haired estate agent.
"She was lovely," Sarah stated on watching the estate agent enter into her Ford Focus.
"Yeah, she was," Chuck agreed as they turned to face each other, and they met each other's gaze.
"Do you fancy a drink?" Sarah asked as she began to smile.
He shook his head as a smile of sympathy began to form.
"Is this you getting me back for earlier?" she asked, playfully.
"No, my way of getting you back will be much more sophisticated than refusing your offer of a drink," he paused to grin, and she snickered. "It's just that Jill has been guilt-tripping me for weeks, so I need to spend some time with her instead tonight."
She smiled at him. "Chuck, you don't need to explain yourself I was just playing. Thank you for bringing me here."
He returned her smile. "Sarah, you're welcome and how about a rain check for the drink until another time?"
She nodded whilst holding her warm glance. "Sure."
"Thank you. I'll drop you off at base now and if you need my help for anything at all just ask me at work or ring me out of work and I'll try and fit you in even though I know you're not gonna call me anyway," he declared.
"Who says I won't?" she asked as a smirk crept through her lips.
"Well, you haven't so far. I've now come to the assumption that you're not good in asking others for help," he declared with a faint smile, and she nodded.
"You're right. I'm not. I'm used to doing things on my own. Nobody has ever wanted to help me. Get in my pants, sure, help me, no," she laughed to him, and he smiled sympathetically at her.
"Well Sarah, for your information, I want to help you. And I can categorically state that I don't want to get into your pants. I'm helping you because you're my teammate, nothing else I can assure you," he stated sincerely, and she suppressed a laugh as she gazed into his eyes.
"Why? Am I not attractive enough and you prefer brunettes instead?" she teased with a loving grin as she continued to gaze at him.
He did a double take before asking, "Are you for real?"
She nodded affirmatively, and she continued her warm smile.
"Well then, in that case, you're right. You are totally unattractive," he declared with a straight face, and she immediately did a double-take, and she began to look at him in shock.
Suddenly, he began to burst into laughter, and he quickly stated, "I'm just playing! You should see your face! I told you I would get you back for your teasing of me!"
Sarah instantly moved to swat her hand into his chest. "Jesus! I thought you were serious!" she paused as she shook her head at her teammate, and he continued laughing. "I'm not gonna lie, that really affected my ego and my confidence. I've not had somebody tell me I'm unattractive before. I was ready to burst into tears," she admitted with a wide smile.
"Sarah, I could tell," he laughed, and she began to fight the urge to laugh with him once more. "But for the record, you're beautiful, and I still can't believe you're single."
She smiled at her teammate's compliment, and she continued to stare at him. "Thank you. I've just not met the right guy yet..."
A short while later
Chuck fired down the engine to his vehicle on the driveway to his home. After dropping Sarah off at their base, he returned straight home. Departing his car in a happy mood, he locked his car, and he began to walk up the driveway, and he took out his house keys as he did so. Arriving at the door, he placed his keys into the lock, and he quickly entered inside. On entering, he closed the door behind him, when his long-term girlfriend appeared in view.
"You're home early," she declared.
He nodded. "Yeah, no mission today, I was just helping out Sarah, my teammate, with some house hunting, and then I rushed back so that we could go and do something ourselves," he admitted, and he watched on as his girlfriend turned joyful and a wide smile formed, and she rushed to hug him.
"Chuck, thank you..."
O-x-O-x-O-x-O
The next day
Tuesday, 23 October, 2007
Chuck returned to his home after completing another day of training exercises with his team. He wasn't staying long at his home, though, because he had offered to drive Sarah to London so that she could pick up her car, and Cole had also offered out that same curtsy to Bryce to pick up his own wheels that were Manchester. These offers of help were longstanding regimental traditions, and they had been occurring for decades between teammates in 22 Reg as its members came from all parts of the UK and getting to and from Hereford wasn't easy in just a few hours without your transports. Chuck exited his car, and he noted his girlfriend waving out of the living room window at him before she disappeared from view and she quickly appeared at the front door, and she greeted him affectionately with an embrace.
"Hi," she said inside the embrace.
"Hi," he responded warmly.
"You're home early again. No mission today either?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No. But I can't stay," he paused to smile sympathetically, and his girlfriend backed away from the embrace, and her joy turned into despair. "I just came back to spend a few minutes with you and to apologize because I'm going to be back quite late tonight as I'm driving over to London."
"Chuck, why the hell are you going to London?" she asked as she shook her head in frustration.
He smiled sympathetically. "Jill, when I joined the Regiment, Cole drove me to Warrington to pick up my previous car," he started.
"And what does that have to do with why you're now driving to London tonight?" she asked.
"I've now made that same offer to Sarah. I'm driving her to London to pick up her car, and then I'm coming straight back," he admitted.
She began to shake her head in anger once more.
"For god's sake, Chuck! I am getting sick of regimental traditions coming between us! That's all I hear from you! Regimental tradition this, regimental tradition that!" she said as her frustration began to boil over.
"Jill, stop it. I don't need this crap! We had a great night yesterday, and we spent the whole evening together,"
She interrupted him, "Wow, mind how you go, Chuck! My friends spend most of the entire week with their partners, not just one evening!"
Chuck's gaze lowered to the floor in sadness. He didn't like seeing people upset, especially not his girlfriend who he did feel strong feelings for, but Jill knew what she signed up for when she asked to move in with him. Their relationship had started off brilliantly, and it had blossomed for quite some time, but it all began to turn sour once she had moved in with him, and it had been rocky and troubled for some time now.
"Cole is driving Bryce to get his car too, and Sophie isn't complaining about it," Chuck argued.
"Well, maybe, she should!" Jill said as she continued to shake her head in disapproval over feeling ignored and neglected.
"Jill, life isn't easy for those who date servicemen or women; I get it. And I am sorry that you are in this situation and that you are evidently unhappy in it, truly, I am," he paused as he attempted to make strong eye contact with her, but she ignored his attempts. "But you knew who I was and what I am once we got together. It's not like I hid it from you. I told you who I was from day one. And I'm not prepared to change or to give up my career. I love my job," he declared passionately.
"At least we know where we stand then," she responded distantly to him.
"Yeah, I guess we do," he responded as he nodded his head...
O-x-O-x-O-x-O
A short while later
Chuck pulled up his car outside the barracks housing his squadron on base. After the earful and having had Jill down his throat and guilt-tripping him, he didn't feel like the long six-hour return journey anymore. But he had already promised his teammate, and he was not one to break or go back on his promises.
Sarah was already waiting for him. He had phoned Sarah a few minutes previously to let her know that he was on his way quite simply because of his pissed off mood, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was to be walking through their barracks and having to engage in numerous conversations with his comrades right now because it was not fair on them to see him in a wound-up state.
Sarah smiled at him as she walked up to the passenger door, and he nodded to acknowledge her. She then entered into the front passenger side of the car.
"Hi," she greeted him, holding her smile.
"Hi," he responded in a frustrated tone, and he began to sigh.
"You seem a bit pissed off since I saw you an hour ago. Is everything ok?" she asked him, still holding her smile on-toward him.
He sighed once more, and he took a moment as he attempted to curb his present frustration. "I've just had Jill on my back for doing this," he admitted.
Her smiled lessened to a sympathetic once, and the teammates continued to gaze at each other. "Chuck, I'm sorry. You can cancel if you want. I won't mind," she said, sincerely.
Chuck shook his head before responding, No, it's fine."
She continued her smile at him as she said, "Are you sure?"
He nodded. "I am."
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly as she continued her warm gaze.
He shook his head, dismissively. "Not really," he admitted.
She nodded. "Ok," she said as she continued her smile and she moved to put her seatbelt on, and the two teammates began their long journey together…
A short while later
Chuck and Sarah were almost halfway through their journey to London. And Chuck had cooled down a lot since he had first picked Sarah up ninety minutes ago.
"Sarah, I'm sorry for being a bit narky on arriving to pick you up," he stated, glancing at her.
"Chuck, it's ok. I get why. If I had someone down my throat, trust me, you wouldn't like to see my reaction," she joked.
He laughed for an extended moment at her comment. "Yeah, after that kick in the nuts from you yesterday, I definitely wouldn't," he teased.
She began to laugh, and a joyful smile took shape on her face. "I'm sorry about that. I was just playing with you."
He smiled at her before admitting, "Sarah, it's fine. It didn't hurt that much. I was just making a meal out of it for your sympathy."
She shook her head in disapproval as her vibrant smile remained. "Oh, I see how it is. It's becoming a habit of you playing injured with me," she retorted playfully.
Chuck glanced to the left of him briefly to query her comment, "Huh?" he asked.
"The Killing House on my first day," she retorted.
"Oh!" he paused to glance at her once more. "Sarah, I'm sorry about that, but it's just our operating procedure. You don't stop for a man down."
She began to nod. "But how can you just walk away from your friends on the ground bleeding to death though, Chuck?" she asked, and he glanced at her once more.
"Sarah, believe me, it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, but it's the right policy. If we pause from the engagement to help them, then there is a genuine chance that the person who stops can be lit up and maybe other teammates too. If you can't come to terms with it, then you are in the wrong Regiment," he stated sympathetically, and the two teammates shared a smile.
"You asked me a few days ago if I regretted joining the Regiment," Sarah started, and she waited for him to inquire before continuing.
"Yeah?" he inquired.
"I think I love it, Chuck. I feel like I belong here," she declared, and he glanced at her once more, and they shared another warm smile.
"You sound like me!" he declared affectionately, and the two teammates began to share laughter…
A short while later
This is BBC Radio One with the news at eight. Eleven days on from the devastating terrorist attack in London, we have now had the final figures of casualties and fatalities in the four terrorist incidents that occurred. Sadly, we can now confirm that one-hundred and twenty-one innocents of numerous nationalities lost their lives in the attack. With more than four-hundred injured and twenty-one are still in critical care. In other news directly related to the attack, the Home Office has downgraded the UK threat level from Critical, its highest level to Severe, its second-highest level. This change in the threat level means that another attack is highly likely, but no longer imminent...
Chuck paused from listening to the radio, and he glanced at Sarah next to him. Sarah was gazing out of the windscreen, and she was now looking distressed and in a world of her own. She was fine before that news report that had just occurred, and Chuck knew that the events of what they saw, heard and did in London was still profoundly playing on his teammate's wellbeing.
Without any trail of thought to his actions, he removed his left hand from the wheel of his car, and he moved to comfortingly place his hand onto his teammate's right leg, just above her knee as he asked, "Are you ok?"
Sarah immediately snapped out of her gaze at the contact from him, and she darted her head to her right to glance at him instead in complete shock and surprise at the contact he had just made on her leg.
Chuck immediately removed his hand, and he shot his hand up into the air to apologize to her.
"Sarah, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that... I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking, actually," he said in shame, and he glanced at her whilst also doing his best to concentrate on driving at the same time.
Sarah began to move her arm, and she extended it out as she proceeded to do the exact same to him and she placed her hand halfway up his upper leg, and he immediately turned nervous at the contact. "Chuck, it's ok. Forget about it," she said, reassuringly, and she began to smile warmly at him as she removed her hand and he nodded at her before he continued with the final part of the drive...
A short while later
It had taken nearly three hours, but Chuck and Sarah had just arrived outside of Sarah's mother's home. Back in Hereford, Sarah had given Chuck her mother's location, and it led them straight here via GPS.
"So, Kensington, huh?" Chuck asked.
She began to nod, and she smiled at him. "Yeah. Why?"
"Well, I always knew you were from a posh part of London because of your accent," he joked, and she sighed, and she shook her head at him with a warm smile. "Though I was opting for Mayfair in honesty."
"You can talk. With your posh Cheshire accent," she retorted with a wide smile.
"So, you finally admit that it's a Cheshire accent and not a Liverpudlian one!" he retorted back with a wide grin.
"Only to prove a point," she paused to smile at him once more. "The next time, it's back to you being a Scouser."
He winced once more. "I'm gonna drive off and leave you now," he retorted.
"That's fine," she laughed. "I'm already here now, and I can just drive back home myself."
He put his hand on his heart. "Sarah, this friendship isn't going to last if you keep being mean to me."
"Who says I want it to last?" she retorted playfully.
"What did I do to deserve a friend and a teammate like you?" he retorted.
"Yeah. You must have been a naughty boy to end up with me," she joked, and he laughed and nodded his head.
"Sarah, I'm a very good boy. I assure you. Somebody just doesn't like me that much," he responded, and she laughed sweetly at him.
"Come inside. I'll introduce you to my mum," she then said, and he nodded his head, and they shared a warm smile.
"Ok, now we're getting somewhere! This is what friends do!" Chuck declared enthusiastically.
"See, I'm not all bad!" she retorted with a loving smile.
"Yeah, you're 99% bad," he retorted with a smirk.
"Watch it, Chuck, or I'll beat your ass again as I did in my apartment!" she quipped back.
"That's just not true because you didn't," he replied.
She nodded her head. "I did."
He shook his head. "No, you didn't."
She nodded her head. "Yep, I did."
"We can throw down again if you want?" he asked, playfully.
She smirked before responding, "Sure, just make sure you wear kevlar in your groin first," as she began to laugh.
"That's a great idea! Then you'll have no knee left, and then you'll get benched, and I won't get any more abuse from you. Thanks for the idea, Sarah!" he responded with a grin.
"Shut up, Chuck," she said affectionately as the two teammates began to walk up the pathway to Sarah's mother's home and Sarah rang the doorbell, and they waited together in pause until they saw activity, and a middle-aged blonde lady opened the door.
"Hi, Mum," Sarah said affectionately, and the two women move to hug.
"Hi, Sarah," Emma replied inside the embrace, and her gaze connected onto Chuck, and he smiled warmly at her.
Sarah then began to pull out of the embrace, and she turned to face him once more. "Mum, this is my teammate, Chuck. He drove me here. Chuck, this is my mum, Emma," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded, and he smiled at both women.
"Hi, Emma. It's nice to meet you," Chuck said, gazing at his teammate's mother.
"Hi, Chuck. It's nice to meet you too," Emma said as she returned Chuck's warm gaze.
"You must be proud of your daughter, to be the first female in the Regiment," Chuck said as he held his grin, and he shifted his glance between both women and Sarah emitted a radiant smile at him over his words of praise.
"Well, I would prefer she had a normal and safe job, and that she wasn't in harm's way, but it's her decision, and she is her own person. I am proud of her and her achievement, but it's not a career I would have chosen, and I have already told her this numerous times," Emma stated truthfully.
Chuck laughed briefly with a nod of his head. "You sound a lot like my mother, and sister too actually. They didn't want me anywhere near the army never-mind the Regiment," Chuck declared with a grin, and his teammate and her mother began to laugh.
"I think I would get along with them both," Emma said with a wide smile and Chuck nodded in agreement.
"Is Molly back yet?" Sarah suddenly asked, and Chuck glanced at both women.
"No, she's with her college friends," Emma declared, and Sarah began to nod.
"Chuck, Molly is my younger sister, by the way," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded and smiled.
"Come on inside, both of you," Emma said, and Chuck nodded as he followed his teammate and her mother inside the home.
"Where are you from, Chuck?" Emma asked on them arriving inside her home.
"Warrington, Cheshire. Your daughter is winding me up. She has been calling me a Liverpudlian instead," Chuck joked as the three adults shared a smile and they all suppressed laughter.
"Don't mind her. She's a tease," Emma declared, and Chuck nodded.
"Yeah, I figured that," Chuck said as he gazed, and he smiled at Sarah, and she smiled back at him...
O-x-O-x-O-x-O
A short while later
"It was nice to meet you, Emma. I hope you have a great evening," Chuck stated on arriving at the entrance and exit of Emma's home.
"Thank you, Chuck. And I hope you do too," Emma said as she gave him a warm glance.
"Thanks," Chuck said as he nodded and smiled at Emma.
"Bye, Mum. I'll see you in a few days," Sarah stated, and the mother and daughter moved to embrace.
"Goodbye, darling. I'm looking forward to seeing your new apartment in person. Molly showed me some pictures of it, and it looks really nice," Emma declared.
"I like it. It's a bit expensive, but it's everything I want and need," Sarah said.
"Don't worry about the cost. If you need any help with anything like that, then just ask me," Emma said with an adoring smile.
"Mum…" Sarah protested, and Chuck watched the intimate exchange, and he began to feel like he was intruding on the private moment.
"Sarah, you're my daughter. Don't be afraid to ask for help," Emma said.
"Ok, Mum. But we should probably go. We still have to drive back, and it's almost nine already," Sarah declared.
Emma nodded, and Chuck and Sarah began to depart Emma's home.
"Bye then," Emma said as she bid her final farewells.
"Goodbye," Chuck said as he gazed at his teammate's mum a final time.
"Bye, Mum," Sarah replied, and Chuck and Sarah then began to walk towards their now two vehicles.
"Well, here's my car. It's not an Audi, but it suits me well," Sarah declared as she pointed at her Vauxhall Corsa D.
"Sarah, it's a good car. I like it," he declared.
"Thank you," Sarah said. "Though I am now feeling very tempted to get a Porsche just to have a better car than you."
"Sarah, if you do that, then I'm going to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, because there's no way that I will ever allow you to get a better car than me," Chuck declared with conviction and Sarah giggled sweetly.
"Do you fancy a drink?" she asked as she gazed warmly at him.
"I'm supposed to head back," Chuck started, and he watched Sarah's gaze lower. "But screw it, it's not often I'm in London so why not?"
Sarah raised her gaze once more, and she smiled at her teammate. "Great. I know a bar. It's close, and we won't stay too long," she said.
Chuck nodded as he started walking to follow his teammate...
End of Chapter
AUTHOR'S NOTE Please leave your thoughts. I love to read your thoughts, and I'll see you in a few days with more Chuck and Sarah.