The Detective and the Tech Guy

Authors: Steampunk . Chuckster & dettiot

Rating: T

Summary: A case of mistaken identity and murder brings Sarah Walker, Pinkerton agent, to sunny California. Protecting the heir to the Bartowski Electronics Corporation should be just business - but Chuck Bartowski fills out a suit nicely and makes a mean martini. Chuck lobbied to hire the Pinkerton Agency, but had no idea the detective they'd send would be as alluring, intelligent and fascinating as Sarah Walker. Will the detective and the tech guy solve the mystery, distracted by the riddle in their own hearts? An homage to The Thin Man movies co-written by Steampunk . Chuckster and dettiot.

Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck or The Thin Man series. And we're making no monetary profit from this story.

Author's Note: Enjoy Part 2! - SC

XOXOXOXO

The ex-Pinkerton detective collapsed back into the couch, feeling the way it perfectly molded itself to her, as though wrapping her up in its leathery goodness. Only thing she could think of that she'd like more at this very moment were her boyfriend's arms around her instead.

But no.

Chuck was at the office, most likely slaving away, drafting a few ideas to send off to his architects or programmers or whatever he called them. He'd called them Imagineers the other day, but then informed her in a whisper that he wasn't allowed to say that outside of the condo because he could be sued by Disney.

She smiled to herself as she remembered the pretend terror on his face, and how he'd looked like a little boy.

Then the smile died as she remembered why she'd even left the perfect couch in the first place today. To seek another job. She was getting closer. Sarah could feel it in her bones. She had a sixth sense about certain things, which was why she was so good at her job.

Her ex-job.

Ever since she walked out of Pinkerton and moved out of Chicago, Sarah thought she had been successful at persuading her boyfriend that she had moved on from the agency. Emotionally as well as mentally.

But the truth was, she hadn't. She hid the truth from Chuck, because she knew he would feel guilty. It wasn't right for him to feel guilty, for him to feel like he was to blame for her no longer working at Pinkerton. It was a whole mess of things that led to her leaving her dream job.

The fact that she wasn't respected or trusted by her peers or superiors, for instance. And the fact that Graham was willing to let her stay on only if she continued lying about the one thing in her life that made her feel absolutely and completely precious, important, valuable. She got that from Pinkerton when she solved a case, when clues started to make sense and the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Grinding down the opposition. But in between cases, the job wasn't as rewarding. She was swept under the rug, bypassed, and largely dismissed by her male peers. If she had just opened her eyes and paid attention, she might have figured that out years ago.

With Chuck, she always felt valued and treasured. Hiding that part of her life meant locking her heart in a box and shutting it inside of a sealed vault.

She was done with that.

She'd already punished herself enough while she was working the Bartowski case last year. Sarah Walker wasn't going to do it again.

In the end, Chuck himself wasn't the reason why she lost her job. It was Pinkerton. And their infuriating obsession with rules and protocols that no longer made sense in the twenty first century. They were stuck. And she refused to stay stuck with them.

Sarah was moving forward with her life.

But that didn't mean she didn't ache to work there again every so often. Especially after spending an entire day job hunting and getting absolutely nothing out of it. It felt like she was dangling bait into fish infested waters. The fish were purposefully swimming around the hook but never taking the bait. Did the fish think the bait was rotten? Was there something wrong with her? With her résumé?

All she wanted was steady work, work that challenged her to be the best. Work that made her feel like she was contributing to society and maybe taking a criminal out of circulation at the same time.

There were times when she wished she could just unload all of her frustrations and worries onto Chuck, tell him that she both wanted her Pinkerton job back and didn't want it back all at the same time. And how that was so confusing and frustrating. But he was selfless and thoughtful, sometimes to a fault. And he would immediately heap all the blame on his own shoulders if he knew how she was struggling in her own mind.

Maybe she didn't want Pinkerton back, but she wanted a job like it. Most of the value she got from her work, she realized, was value she'd placed on herself after a successful case. It didn't matter who she worked for, as long as she had cases. She wanted to solve crime, look for clues. She wanted to be a God damn gumshoe again. She didn't need the prestige and secrecy that was part and parcel of working for Pinkerton. She just wanted a job she could sink her teeth into, and maybe she might get her hands a little dirty in the process.

If she told Chuck, he would do his best to understand…but he already had his dream job. His future was laid out in front of him. He was practically a CEO of Bartowski Electronics with the way his dad was prepping him for takeover once he retired. It was probably what Chuck had wanted to do since he was a little kid obsessed with comic books and video games. And for just a moment, Sarah reflected on the fact that she didn't actually know if it was what he'd always wanted to do or not.

Before she could reflect even further, her phone buzzed in her purse that was on the coffee table in front of her. She lazily lifted an arm, realized said arm was two feet too short to be able to reach her purse without moving, and let her arm flop to her side again.

Sarah kicked her pumps off of her feet and let her eyes drift shut, slipping into a meditative state…

But then her phone buzzed again. There were only a few people that it could be, since she hadn't had any time to make any friends besides people she had met through Chuck. And that left Chuck himself, or someone from his family—Ellie, perhaps?

Assuming it was Chuck, she pushed herself up from the couch and grabbed at her purse, hoisting it close enough for her to snag the phone before half-tossing it back onto the table.

It was Chuck. And it was two texts, the first saying, "Check yo email, girl" and the second saying, "Woman, I mean. (Bartowski eyebrow dance)"

She rolled her eyes and let out a soft giggle, exiting out of her text messages and going into her email. There were a few leftover things from Pinkerton there that she had yet to delete. She'd had her own Pinkerton address for work that was most likely deactivated now, along with anything she had saved there, but there were a few things she'd forwarded to her private email. Pushing back a sense of loss (because she couldn't deal with the drama at the moment), she instead skimmed over emails she and Chuck had exchanged during their separation, emails with subject lines like "Important Business Email" and "Work-Related Thing", in which Chuck thought he was being funny. He was. She still giggled when she saw it, knowing that if she clicked on the email, the contents were anything but important business things or reports for work.

She finally came to the topmost unopened email from him, the subject reading, "Food for thought (also it's almost lunch time so now I'm hungry)". Smiling to herself, she opened the email, still lying prone against the back of the couch like a lazy blob of a person.

She began to read:

So I had some extra time this morning and I decided to do a little research. Maybe you'd prefer to do it all yourself and if that's the case, just tell me and I'll absolutely butt out. BUT there are some pretty great rentals that are sort of near my condo. And then some that are further in the city, some further outside of the city. I mean, you don't have to live close to me if you don't want to. You can live wherever you want but I'll get to the point here because I'm sure you've got a busy day planned.

I scrounged up a couple of places that you might want to check out. We can go together to scope them out. Or you can go alone if you'd prefer. That's okay, too! Take a look, though! Some of these look kind of awesome.

Underneath his rambling email were upwards of six different links, with little descriptions under them, as though Chuck had thoroughly looked at everything and summarized each property for her. It must have taken him longer than just this morning. And there was a chance he'd called a realtor about the properties.

She couldn't imagine he was much of a realtor himself, although he had said something about Home and Garden Television being the channel his parents watched a lot at home. She didn't quite see Mary Bartowski as the homemaker, or gardener, or decorator. And when she thought about the Venetian blinds and how confused Mary's features were when Sarah talked about having some installed, Sarah snorted to herself. She was still quite pleased with herself for that.

Getting back to the email, she clicked the first link and went through the property. It was nice, maybe a little out of her price range, but not by much. It was doable even if all she had were her savings. For a little while, at least. If she got a job, it'd be even better.

Sarah stood up and hurried into Chuck's office. He told her it was supposed to be a guest room, but that he never had guests, so he sold the bed and made it into an office. Her laptop was propped right next to his on the desk and for a moment, the sight of their laptops beside one another gave her a shiver of pleasure. It was almost like His and Her sinks, but updated for a tech-obsessed world.

Shaking her head at how Chuckish that thought was, she plopped down in Chuck's comfy desk chair and opened up her laptop, pulling Chuck's email up on a bigger screen and going into his desk for pen and paper.

She went through each property, writing down the name of the realtor, the phone number, and some of the other important information, like square feet, price, amenities, where it was in the city, et cetera.

By the time she was finished, she had a good list of places for her to scope out. And she realized as she looked down at them in list form that Chuck hadn't just willy-nilly thrown a bunch of places into the email for reference. These were amazing apartments, and for the most part they fit in her budget. And at least half of them were within twenty minute walking distance from here.

Sarah found herself grinning as she looked down at the list. She folded it up and left the office. And as she went upstairs to their bedroom to change into something more casual than a business suit, she found she couldn't stop grinning.

Chuck Bartowski was the single most amazing guy in the universe. She was positive of it. Because she didn't know any other person who would do what Chuck had been doing all morning. He wasn't just sending her links to make himself look like he was supporting her moving out and into her own place. She knew he wanted her to stay. He didn't hide the fact from her. But he didn't beg her or pester her. He accepted it.

But now he was doing even more than just accepting it. He was actively finding her good options—great options even—to move someplace else. He was helping her get what she wanted, even if it conflicted with what he wanted. Sure, she knew he wouldn't make a big stink about it either way, but the fact that he was doing this research and compiling information almost made her want to just throw the list away and stay here. If only to make him happy.

This was Chuck Bartowski, though. Not some other guy. And he wouldn't like it if she lived here when he knew she wanted to make her own way for a little while. She wasn't completely blind to the fact that there was a double standard in their relationship. Because apparently Chuck could put her happiness before his, but she couldn't do the same for him.

He would never see it that way, but it was clear to her.

This was important, though, and not just for her but for their relationship. She knew this was the right step to take. She wouldn't be able to bear anything else after enough time passed.

She wasn't about to slump around his condo for the rest of her life while he went to work. She wasn't going to live off of his income in comfort, while not having any income of her own.

It wasn't just her pride that would take a beating. She knew he would start to resent her eventually, and she would already be resenting herself. Nothing good ever came from situations like that.

Then again, she knew she could survive on just Chuck by himself. That would always be the case. As long as she had him, there was nothing else she needed.

That much was obvious in the last month since she had moved in with him. He was more than enough. He was more than she'd ever dreamed of.

But the fact of the matter was that he didn't have to be the only thing. He was the most important thing. The one thing she would never be able to live without. But she also wanted a job that gave her self-worth, and she wanted friends of her own. As much as she'd already grown to adore Ellie and Devon, and even Morgan—though he had almost set her favorite cardigan on fire by trying to do Benihana things in Chuck's kitchen a week ago.

Sarah wanted things of her own. Her own place, her own job, her own friends. She needed her own things. She would share it all with Chuck, absolutely. In the same way he shared his work, his family, his friends. His home.

Chuck understood that. At least, she thought he did. He must have understood if he sent her this email.

As much as she'd caught herself wondering in the past if Chuck was even human, what with how thoughtful and sweet and smart and funny and sexy he was, he had some faults. She'd discovered them by living with him the past two months. In some ways, he was a stereotypical bachelor. And she saw instances in which his mother's coddling and privileged upbringing had made it so that certain things about living alone and being an adult had sailed right over his head. Simple things like making grocery lists for himself, knowing what a proper kitchen should be stocked with.

And then there was his utter lack of a schedule. Sarah wasn't obsessive compulsive or anything like that, but she was organized about everything in her life. She had set times she would work out between, set times she would eat between. For the most part, she had always operated on a schedule. It settled her both mentally and physically, kept her feet on the ground. It wasn't immovable, and she was sometimes thrown off of her schedule during cases, and she dealt with it as she had to. But having that general structure made daily life so satisfying. It gave her control. She loved control.

Especially now that she no longer had her job, now that she could just as easily let herself fall into a rut of not having any sort of schedule whatsoever, sit around and watch TV and guzzle fruit juice, work out when she felt like it, eat when she got bored…

Organizing her time efficiently seemed even more important. If anything, it was absolutely necessary. Otherwise she might slip into a ridiculous sense of loss, or lack of self-worth and confidence. She didn't want that.

She didn't want to be a depressed barnacle that clung to Chuck's hull as he sailed through life. (And maybe she shouldn't let Chuck put on old pirate movies so late at night anymore. Apparently it was getting to her head.)

It wasn't that she had something to prove. Not to Chuck's mother or the rest of his family. Not to Graham if she was even still on his radar. Not to Chuck. And not even to herself. She knew she could do this. There was no question. If nothing else, Sarah Walker was fully aware of her own capabilities. And whenever Chuck told her he believed in her, or had faith in her, whenever he told her he knew she would find something, that it was only a matter of time…she saw nothing but sincerity. He truly did believe that she was capable of great things.

It meant the world to her. And no matter how many knocks she took along the way, if he stuck by her, she'd get there.

Dressed and with her purse in hand, she slipped more comfortable and shorter heels onto her feet, and hurried out of the condo, not stopping until she made it to her car. And with her heart lifted from where it had been after her dismal morning interviews, she calmly made her way to her boyfriend's office.

That man deserved some ice cream.

—-

Walking through Bartowski Electronics had always been interesting back when she was here a year ago to protect Chuck and his father. She would get looks, sometimes of appraisal but mostly of curiosity. And while neither Stephen or his son had made any official announcements that Pinkerton agents were there to solve the case and protect the bosses Bartowski, the employees were all smart enough to figure out what she was doing there.

And now that she'd returned after almost a year, walking through the lobby, down the hallways, through work areas, taking the elevator…The usual air of curiosity had not only intensified; it was now mixed with wonder and outright amazement.

Again, Chuck hadn't made an announcement. That would have been horribly awkward.Remember Detective Walker? Well she quit her job and now she's my girlfriend and she lives in my condo. Okay everybody! Back to work!

In spite of there being no awkward announcement, though, they knew. She could tell by the way the girls looked at her. They didn't have the gall to dislike her—at least not that she could tell. Maybe it was a testament to how much these people actually respected Chuck. How much they trusted his judgment.

Or maybe Stephen, Chuck and their people had done an amazing job with the hiring process and all of their employees were respectful as well as being good at their jobs.

Over the last two months, she'd visited him at work countless times, and people had warmed to her. The astonishment had cooled a little, and they always greeted her with polite waves. It was an even better environment than she'd remembered it being a year ago.

And maybe she was just being a biased girlfriend, but she attributed all of this to Chuck. She'd seen how much more connected to the people he was than his father. And that wasn't anything against Stephen J. Bartowski. The man wasn't nearly as outgoing as his son was. But he was a genius, and very kind. And he cared. But most of his interactions were with clients. Chuck was a people person. And Sarah had no idea where he'd gotten it from, considering his mother was an absolute—

Ding!

Sarah shook her head and smirked as the elevator doors opened, but the smirk died immediately as Mary Bartowski herself stood right in front of her, an eyebrow raised, one hand on her purse and the other clenched in a fist at her hip.

"Well, hello."

"Mrs. Bartowski…I—"

Chuck and Stephen strolled into view, chuckling about something as they came up behind Mary, and then Chuck caught sight of his girlfriend and halted. "Sarah!"

The explosive grin on his face left her no choice but to smile back, even though she felt a little cold. She'd been thinking of Mary Bartowski…'negatively' was probably the nicest way to put it…and lo and behold, here she was in the flesh. Simpering now that Chuck was here watching. Like Chuck was stupid enough that he didn't already know his mother hated his girlfriend.

"Hi, Chuck. Mr. Bartowski."

"Stephen!" Chuck's father said, reaching around his wife to stop the elevator doors from closing again. "How are you, Sarah?"

"I'm great, thank you."

"Mary and I were just headed out. Why don't you ride down with us? Unless…" Stephen turned and cast a glance at his son, who just shrugged. And it pleased her to no end that the goofball still looked incredibly happy to see her.

"Ride down with us, Sarah. We don't see you all that often. Which is a shame since you live with Chuck and we're so close by," Mary said, and Sarah felt a chill go down her spine as the woman caught her gaze and just…stared. It was intimidating but two could play at that game.

So she just smiled sincerely and nodded. "I'd love to."

Stephen held the door as the three of them joined Sarah in the elevator and as the doors shut, Chuck's hand closed around hers. She knew he could see right through her. And she liked to think he was grateful to her for not taking the bait. Sarah was determined to follow Devon's example. She wouldn't be rude to Chuck's mother, at least not outwardly. But she wouldn't let her walk all over her either.

Sarah was here to stay. And Chuck's mother was just going to have to get used to it. If she didn't, that wasn't Sarah's problem.

The conversation was light as they traveled down to the lobby, most of it between Stephen and Chuck. Sarah couldn't help being a little quiet, her gaze sweeping over Mary's shorter figure. The woman was standing ramrod straight, and Sarah wondered if it was from the stick up her a—

"So, Sarah. How's the job hunting?"

Sarah cleared her throat, leaning against Chuck's arm a little to keep him from chastising his mother. That would only make it more awkward. So she opted to tell the truth. "Not as well as I'd hoped. But I'm keeping my chin up. I'll find something."

"Oh. That's a shame. I'm sure you will find something." Mary turned to glance at Stephen over her shoulder. "Darling, didn't a Bed Bath and Beyond open a few miles away from our Santa Monica loft?"

Stephen pressed his lips together. She knew what was happening. And Sarah wondered how often Mary Bartowski railed to her husband about Chuck dating Sarah. The poor man. Then again, he didn't have to put up with it. There was always separation. Divorce.

"Uh…it might have," he said quietly.

"I think it did. I bet they're hiring." Mary smiled at Sarah again.

"Maybe I'll look into that," Sarah said, her voice a little more bubbly than she meant for it to be. "Thank you. It always helps to have people around who are helping, you know? People with their nose to the ground. So to speak."

Chuck made a soft choking noise as the elevator doors opened and Sarah grabbed his hand tightly, striding past Mary and dragging Chuck with her, leaving a stone-faced Mary and her amused husband in their wake.

As they made their way to the lobby entrance, Stephen invited them to dinner over the weekend. And then they said their goodbyes. Mary was just as frigid as ever as she took Sarah's hand and smiled, and Sarah unclenched once the woman was out of sight.

"Okay, so…wow."

"What?" she asked Chuck as they turned to walk back through the lobby.

He slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "I'm not sure a lesser woman would have dealt with my mother the way you just did."

She turned to give him an unsure look. "Are you mad at me?"

"What?" He let out a shocked chuckle. "Mad at you? Let me tell you something. I always think I can't love you any more than I already do, and then you pull off the impossible and I just…You're wonderful, you know that?"

Sarah turned her face into his shoulder and laughed. "The impossible? What are you babbling about?"

"You shut her up. Not even Ellie can do that. Man, when I tell Ellie, she's gonna wanna divorce Awesome and marry you. Which I guess is one way to keep you around."

Cracking up hard enough to attract a bit of attention, she blushed and sobered up, stepping into the elevator and pressing her lips together until the doors shut.

Chuck stood with his arms crossed, a mischievous look on his face. But she also saw a bit of embarrassment, and she knew that wasn't from her outburst of laughter in the lobby. "Hey, you nerd. What's that look there?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh?"

"You know, your mother's behavior doesn't reflect on you. And I mean, so far…she isn't all that bad. Considering how I know she feels about me, how she felt about me a year ago before you and I were dating even, it could be a lot worse. I mean, she could ban me from her home."

But no. Chuck's mother was much subtler than that, she thought with an inward roll of her eyes. Ellie had warned her numerous times.

"She could try to, but Dad would never stand for that. He lets her misbehave to a certain point, but by no means is he a pushover." He moved closer, uncrossing his arms and wrapping his fingers around her wrists. "And she knows that banning you would be the same thing as banning me. She found that out the hard way with Ellie. She tried to pull the 'You can't come here' thing after Ellie eloped with Devon and I told her if she didn't let my sister in the family home, she wouldn't see me there either. That lasted for like…two hours."

Sarah felt warmth flood through her entire body. He really was the best man she'd ever known. And for some reason that felt like a gross understatement. Because he was a one of kind gem, honestly. "Wow…I'd hate to be the person dumb enough to try to drive a wedge between Ellie and Chuck Bartowski."

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. "You don't have to worry about that. Ellie is crazy about you. She said that. In those words. She said, 'Chuck, if you ever do anything to hurt that girl I'll disown you. I'm crazy about her.' Seriously. She said that."

Sarah was certain she was blushing hard and she ducked her head, wrapping her arm around Chuck's torso. "That's really nice. Your sister is really nice. She's sort of my favorite person." He pouted a little and she giggled. "Besides you."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. Chuck didn't move his arm from her shoulders for even a moment as they moved through the hallways and greeted the employees, even when his assistant asked him a few questions, until finally they were locked away in his office.

"So I hope it's okay I told my dad about the whole not-having-a-job-yet thing. I didn't think about it and I didn't think my mom would exploit it like that."

"Noo, no. It's okay. I mean, I'm not going to lie to them and say I found something when I haven't. That's not really starting out on the right foot."

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of." He turned from where he was straightening the piles of papers on his desk and met her gaze seriously. "You know that, right? You're the smartest person I know, Sarah. And the hardest worker. And nobody deserves to get what they want more than you do. You know what you want, right?"

You, she thought cheesily. And at the moment, that particular want was incredibly strong. "Yeah, I do."

"Good. Because you're gonna get it."

Should probably lock the door first. She smirked to herself.

"So what are you doing here, anyways? Did you need something?"

"Well I didn't want to butt in on your lunch with your parents, so I came a little later."

"And you ran into them anyways," he said with a chuckle. She gave him a wry smile. "Wait, how'd you know I was going to lunch with my parents? Did I tell you that?"

"Nope. I texted your assistant."

He paused. "You have my assistant's number?"

Sarah crossed the room with a snort and sidled up close to him, running her hand down his tie. "I'm your girlfriend. Of course I have your assistant's number." She patted his chest and walked back around the desk, missing the dreamy smile on his face. "I actually wanted to take you out for ice cream."

"Really? I mean…I have a lot of work to catch up on…" He winced a little at that.

"Yeah, I bet you do. With how you spent your morning." Sarah bit her lip and waited for him to catch on.

When he did, he leaned his palms on his desk and gave her a slow smile. The type of smile that usually made her blood boil in the best way possible. "It was worth it."

"Oh, I'm gonna make it worth it. Trust me. The ice cream is just the tip of the iceberg, because I actually liked all of those places you sent me and now I have an actual direction that I'm going in and that's all thanks to you." She leaned in from the other side of the desk, mimicking his pose, giving him a soft kiss. And for just a moment, she flashed back to their first kiss. It was right here at this desk. On this desk at one point.

"Do I get to house hunt with you? I mean…apartment, condo, loft hunt…"

She giggled. "I'd be a little lost if you didn't. You know this town. I mean, I could do it alone, I guess. But I would love it if I had an extra pair of eyes."

"Well, good thing I've got both of my eyes. You can have 'em."

"Both of them?"

"Yap! Both!"

They chuckled and kissed again, and when they pulled back, she looked up into his face for a moment, studying it. The happy wrinkles in the corners of his bright golden eyes and beside his nose, his perfect white teeth, his adorable nose. "I know you want me to stay, Chuck. And I really want to stay, too. If I could live on my own and live with you at the same time, that'd be awesome, but unfortunately that's not how it works."

"I do want you to stay. But I also think it's a good idea that you don't." Sarah raised a questioning eyebrow. "I just mean that this is going to be a good growing experience for us. We're actually going to have to make time for each other. I think that's a good thing."

"You're so smart. I never thought of it like that."

"Well, you know…" He shrugged in feigned modesty and ran a hand over his curls.

She giggled and leaned in to kiss him again.

"Oh! And I can always show up under your window and throw little pebbles at it to wake you up in the middle of the night."

"Or…you know, you could call me on my cellphone. Or text me. Or just come up and knock on the door. Use the key that I'll most likely have made for you."

He grinned slowly. "I get a key?" She nodded and his grin widened. And then he shook his head. "But I mean, that's romantic! Throwing pebbles at a girl's window. And then you'd come and open it and stick your pretty blonde head out and I can recite poetry."

"Oh God, please don't."

"No Sandburg?"

She giggled. "You gonna recite romantic poetry about Chicago under my window? Wow. Be still my beating heart." She held her hand over her heart.

"Well, fine. I'll serenade you with a guitar."

"Ha! You can't play guitar."

"I'll learn how to play guitar and serenade you with a guitar."

Sarah couldn't help the fit of giggles she broke into and he joined her, reaching over the desk to hold her up. They almost didn't hear the buzz of Chuck's desk phone. She pointed to the blinking light and he straightened up, giving her a mischievous look and picking up the phone.

"Oh." He paused. "Great! Just slot him in tomorrow morning and we're good. Thanks for letting me know. And you know what? It's Friday. After you pencil him in, get outta here. Enjoy the weekend early." Another pause as Sarah widened her eyes. "I'm totally serious. Go on…You're welcome. See you on Monday."

As he hung up, one leg propped on his chair in a classy rendition of the Captain Morgan pose, Sarah heard the sound of the outer office door shutting. There was no telling what sort of ideas Chuck's assistant had about Chuck's kind gesture. Considering the boss's girlfriend was in here. And they'd arrived in a chummy embrace, after all.

She tried not to be mortified, but she was at least a little embarrassed. "Chuck, really?"

"What?"

"It's kind of obvious with me in here why you let your assistant go home early."

"Well then we better make the most of it. Lock the door."

There were no words to describe the flurry of emotions that raged through her body, the physical sensations, the way her heart was racing like she'd just finished a marathon. And as she slowly walked to the door to lock it, Sarah Walker bit her lip with a ridiculous amount of glee.

Maybe the honeymoon was over for her and Chuck in some ways. She was going to be moving to her own place soon, after all. But in at least this way, the honeymoon still continued. Or more appropriately, it raged on.

And as she pushed his suit jacket off of his shoulders, guiding him to sit in his chair, she found she was almost a little blown away by how easy it was for Chuck Bartowski to make her day do a complete about turn.

This was the happiness poets talked about. The absolute bliss she'd always made fun of when she watched romantic comedies. It was real.

And it was right here in her arms.

XOXOXOXOXO

Author's Note: Man. Chuck's office gets so much action.

Hahahahaha! (runs away!) - SC