Posted July 26, 2022

A/N: A new season of Charah, so it's all good, right? Well… Unfortunately, the show's "Chuck," not "Charah." There's still a lot to go before Charah. In a way, it might have gone better for Charah if in the first season finale, Chuck was put in a bunker, so Chuck and Sarah could date. After a month, Sarah would've broken her boyfriend free. They'd find some way to bring him back to Echo Park. He quit Buy More at the end of season 2 and they brought him back. They blew up the store at the end of season 3, yet brought him back.

This story follows canon, so hang on for a couple break-ups, a couple more PLIs, and several huge Charah head-fakes. People will die… but you know that because this is the beginning of season 2 of Chuck. If you know it well, you can always skip the recap and jump to the "in between." As a reminder, since this story follows canon, it's still going to the Charah promised-land…eventually.

"Chuck vs the First Date" (2x01) Recap

Here are a couple things you might need to know, or maybe you just forgot.

Chuck was held upside down by a huge man, off the side of an unfinished building. Chuck said he had the "Cipher." He wanted to discuss things before being dropped to his death. After he reflected on the fact he had the Intersect in his head, he realized he wouldn't be believed. He did say something that was unbelievable: he was the world's most valuable piece of intelligence. Then, he said a more believable thing: a couple of people would be upset if he was hurt.

At that moment, Casey and Sarah broke into the room and rescued Chuck. The huge man escaped, but Chuck still had the Cipher, so by getting out of the always unsafe car, the mission was accomplished.

At the debrief with Beckman and Graham, the spymasters congratulated Sarah and Casey. They said the Cipher was the last piece of the new Intersect computer. Chuck asked what was going to happen to him, the old Intersect. They said Operation Bartowski would officially come to an end and Chuck could enjoy the rest of his life.

After the debrief, Sarah checked with Chuck. He said he was fine. He wouldn't have his spy protectors forever, but he had the Buy More. Sarah told him he could do anything and anything he wanted he could have.

Casey and Beckman also privately talked, and she said Chuck would need to be eliminated. Casey hoped there might be another exit strategy but said he would follow orders.

The next morning, Chuck woke excited to start the day. He danced into the bathroom with a fogged up mirror, where Devon and Ellie were showering together. At breakfast, both he and Ellie were embarrassed. Chuck confessed to Ellie and Devon that he needed to move out and was thinking about changing things in his life. Before he left for work, Ellie asked if Chuck's plans were a good thing. When Chuck said yes, she was very excited for him.

At Buy More, Morgan showed Chuck plans for a new strategy for Compound level from Call of Duty for a new strategy, for the next time they went up against Large Mart. Chuck had to leave him to talk to Big Mike.

On the way to Big Mike's office, Chuck thanked Casey for always being there for him and catching him when he fell. Casey was not sentimental about Operation Bartowski coming to an end. Big Mike asked Chuck to be the assistant manager because he didn't want to interview again.

Back out on the store floor, Chuck let Anna, Jeff, Lester, and Morgan know that he turned the offer down. As "punishment," Chuck had to pick the new assistant manager. The three Nerd Herders were interested. Chuck said resumes should go to Morgan. Chuck's friend was disappointed because he thought he was going to be the "right hand of the A.M." and guessed that Chuck was choosing Sarah over the Buy More management job.

Chuck went to see Sarah at her new cover job at the frozen yogurt place, Orange Orange. Flirting, he told Sarah he missed Wienerlicious. Sarah said her clothes smelled like sausage, which eliminated the nostalgia. Chuck proceeded to ask Sarah on a date.

At first, Sarah said she couldn't because she's a CIA agent. Chuck argued she had nothing to lose. It would be one last night of fun before being undercover in some place like Jakarta in a knife fight. After a second thought, she accepted the date invite. Chuck called it their first real date. Sarah corrected him that it was their second first date and promised to not have a gun.

At the apartment before the date, Ellie talked to Chuck more about what he hoped for his future. She said it better not something unrealistic like piloting the Millennium Falcon. Chuck joked about being a ninja assassin, being in the Olympics, and secret agent, all of which Ellie shot down. Chuck said he wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he wanted to learn an obscure language, finish college, and leave Buy More.

Morgan showed up before Chuck left for the date to talk about the Call of Duty strategy. When Chuck picked up Sarah at Maison23, she left her gun.

A messenger came to Casey's to get the Cipher. He wasn't really a messenger, so he gassed Casey and stole the Cipher. Chuck and Sarah were identified as two more targets. Casey saved himself with a decontamination shower by his door and by injecting himself in the chest.

The second first date started with dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Sarah was impressed and was surprised when Chuck admitted the location was a Morgan recommendation. He defended his friend, pointing out that he always believed Chuck could be with a woman like Sarah. In a flirty way, Sarah got Chuck to explain why that was a big deal. She simply said Chuck was great.

Chuck asked where Sarah was going for her next mission, and she sadly answered that a CIA officer doesn't get to choose. Chuck pointed out that he still had secrets in his head, implying that he still needed someone with him. They almost kissed over the table, but before they did, Chuck flashed on bad guys throughout the restaurant. Chuck told Sarah they were surrounded, and the imposing man from earlier, Colt, interrupted the date to kidnap them.

With no gun, Sarah tried to stab Colt with chopsticks, but Colt stopped her and threatened to strangle her. Chuck and Sarah were rescued by Casey crashing his Crown Vic through the front of the restaurant. Colt punched Casey in the face, leaving a wound imprint from his ring, but they all escaped. The Cipher was gone, but Sarah reassured Chuck they would get it back.

The next day, Chuck ran interviews for the three Nerd Herder A.M. candidates in the break room. In different ways, they were all disturbing. Casey burst in to patch up his face, and Chuck flashed on the wound. The imprint was from the ring for Colt's organization, and Chuck flashed the location of their secret hideout.

Casey sedately said he would call it in. Chuck insisted they should take action immediately so Casey could be rid of him. When Casey left, Chuck put Morgan in charge of A.M. selection and went over to Orange Orange. Casey and Sarah were coming out of the back room, armed to raid the hideout location.

Morgan started the final test for the A.M. match with a cage match between Lester and Jeff. Chuck was called away for offsite Nerd Herd support.

The support call was a trap to catch Chuck, who had seen Colt's face. Chuck said he would forget it, but Colt said he was going to snap Chuck's neck.

Chuck tried a bluff: it was his trap and the place was surrounded. Chuck called Morgan, who precisely stated the team specs for the Call of Duty strategy, without saying they were specs for a video game team. The ruse worked, so Colt and his team panicked and looked out the windows for how they were surrounded. Chuck seized the chance to retake the Cipher and run.

Colt caught Chuck and hung him upside down off the roof of the building. Chuck had the Cipher again, but Colt didn't care. Sarah showed up and yelled for him to freeze. Colt didn't think it was worth it, so he dropped Chuck.

Casey was coming up the fire escape and caught Chuck when he fell, but Sarah didn't see the save. Devastated, she attacked a man who was over twice her size and almost held her own. Casey got to the roof with a gun to stop Colt. Colt's men surrounded them. Then Chuck returned to the roof with the TAC team that had been with Casey and Sarah, and they surrounded Colt's men. Casey took the Cipher back from Chuck for the NSA.

At Casey's Beckman reiterated the execution order. Casey tried to stick up for Chuck again, but the civilian spymaster, Graham, strongly agreed with Beckman. At his apartment, Chuck prepared a private dinner for Sarah. At the Beta Intersect download, Graham started up the Intersect to download into several potential agents. To himself, Chuck practiced asking Sarah to go with him to Europe. Casey entered the apartment through the Morgan door to kill Chuck. Before he could, Sarah knocked on the door.

Upset, Sarah told Chuck they had to call off the date because the Intersect was destroyed because the Cipher was a Trojan horse that exploded. Chuck remained the only Intersect.

Another day at Buy More, Chuck was not happy because he was going to be there a while. As the new assistant manager, Lester started riding Chuck for getting complaints—more specifically, he hadn't received compliments.

Morgan asked how he was doing. Chuck bemoaned that his life wasn't going anywhere. Morgan said he was on his way to secure 45 bags of Twinkies because Jeff said he could eat them all. Chuck was intrigued because he was certain nobody can eat 90 Twinkies. They got Casey interested in watching because "Jeff might die!"

Chapter Characters: Sarah, Chuck, Casey, Morgan

Songs (from 2x01)
- "The Twist" by Frightened Rabbit
- "Returning to the Fold" by The Thermals

www. imdb. com (8.7/10)
chuckthisblog. wordpress. com (3/91)

Thursday, October 2, 2008
Buy More

Sarah rushed into the store, desperate to find Chuck. None of the staff was around, which wasn't unusual. Big Mike was in his office, probably devouring a Subway sandwich before 11am. Larry was standing outside his door, too scared to knock. He probably got tapped to inform the oblivious manager that an ambulance was outside the front of the store.

A thought passed through her head. Larry was wearing a gray vest. She hoped that wasn't part of the Nerd Herd outfit now because she enjoyed adjusting Chuck's tie, and doing that was easier when it wasn't tucked into a vest.

She didn't see the person wanted to see, her curly-haired asset. It was her job to make sure he was safe, but more than that, she needed to make sure he was ok. Two EMTs rushed by her from the entrance towards the employee break-room, pushing a wheeled stretcher. That wasn't a good sign.

Sarah followed them down the employee-only hallway, and she saw them entering the far room. It looked like everyone was there. Sarah ran to the doorway to see what was going on. The room was filled with the missing Buy More employees, so she couldn't see past the stretcher and the crowd. Most importantly, she couldn't see Chuck. Before she could force her way through to find out who was in trouble, Casey grabbed her arm and escorted her back into the hallway, where no one would hear them.

"Calm down, Walker."

"There's an ambulance outside the front. Is Chuck ok? What happened?"

"He's fine."

Saying he was fine was not good enough. "Where is he?"

"He's in the middle of it, of course." Sarah didn't hide the panic from her eyes. Casey clarified, "The rescue squad isn't for him. He's just being his overly helpful self. As far as I'm concerned, he shouldn't have dialed 9-1-1."

Sarah felt the tightness in her gut release. The ambulance was not for Chuck. She still was angry at Casey. "You're in charge of keeping him safe while he's here. This never should have happened."

Casey grunted. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

Her panic was gone, but now all Sarah felt was the residual anger at her partner. "Do your job!"

Someone else said, "What are you talking about? It's not Casey's job to keep Jeff out of the ER." The voice came from Morgan who had come out of the break room into the hall. Fortunately, he hadn't heard everything Casey and Sarah said, so he'd misunderstood. "Lester can't even do that." Lester? Who's Lester? Oh yeah. Larry is Lester. "It's his job to tell Big Mike what is going on."

From how Chuck's friend was so cheerful, Chuck couldn't be hurt. As the hero of the Buy More, Chuck always had to step in and save the day, putting him in the middle of it. She didn't understand something. "Why would it be Lester's job?"

"He's our new leader because Chuck didn't want the job. Big Mike ordered Chuck to pick someone, and Chuck passed the responsibility to me. I set up a cage match, and Lester defeated Jeff to get the job. Jeff recovered, so that's not what happened here."

Sarah didn't know what to say. Chuck could have been assistant manager? Why didn't he want that? Why didn't he tell her? Morgan picked Lester. That wouldn't end well, but considering how Buy More normally operated, it might not be noticeable. Sarah didn't care about that. The important issue was Chuck. Where was he? "Chuck's ok?"

"Yes," Morgan confirmed. Before Sarah could go back to the break room, Morgan said, "I'm surprised the big guy isn't back here supervising. Actually, I'm not. He must be hiding in his office with our new A.M."

Big Mike probably still didn't know. Sarah quickly said, "I saw Lester hovering outside the manager's office, too scared to tell him." She left the two men behind. She heard Casey say to Morgan that he would handle it, but she didn't stop as she pushed her way into the break room to find Chuck.

Standing up against the wall, clear of where the EMTs were lifting Jeff into the stretcher, Sarah saw Chuck. He looked like nothing was wrong—he looked perfect. She thought she had calmed down talking to Casey and then Morgan, but since she first heard the sirens in the plaza, she had been a ball of tension. She started to relax when she saw Morgan wasn't concerned about Chuck, but only now did she truly feel better. When Chuck's eyes met hers, it was a jolt that made her feel like she could do anything.

She erased the distance between them, grabbed both sides of his face, and kissed him hard. It was wonderful, especially when he started to respond. However, it stopped as quickly as it started, with Chuck breaking the kiss.

Looking at his face, she didn't see a reflection of the wonderful feeling she felt. She only saw confusion. They were both safe and together. Why didn't he feel the joy she felt?

He said, "I'm a little confused. We need to talk…someplace else…" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the break room, away from everyone.

At the door to the room, they ran into Morgan, who was getting back in the middle of where everyone was. "Hey, Buddy. Sarah found you! What Jeff tried was great, wasn't it? He made forty-five, no problem. At seventy, he was fine. The next ten did him in."

What was Morgan talking about? Wherever it was, it was probably why Jeff was going to the ER. Whatever Morgan was talking about, Chuck didn't think it was important. He said, "Sorry, Morgan. Sarah and I need someplace private." He led her out of the room. "I know… in here." Chuck pulled her through a door along the hallway into a closet.

The move shocked Sarah. She didn't think Chuck was like that. Deep down, in a place she would not admit to under torture, the idea of them going into the privacy of a closet in the middle of the day was hot. But that was not meant to be. She couldn't compromise herself like that, no matter how much she wanted it. She had to deny what she wanted because that is what she had to do to be able to protect Chuck.

If Chuck tried anything, she could easily stop him, but it would be fun if he tried. Unfortunately, Chuck didn't try. Instead, he asked, "What was that about? You know. The kiss?"

Sarah didn't know how to respond because she didn't understand the question. Chuck didn't wait for her to come up with an answer before he provided two options. "Was that a real kiss or a cover kiss?"

"I'm happy you're ok." That was more honest than she should have admitted to Chuck, or even to herself. Seeing the hope on Chuck's face, she realized she definitely shouldn't have said that to him. She couldn't leave it there, so she provided a very plausible cover-excuse. "When I saw the ambulance, I thought something might have happened to you. I was…" No, she couldn't say it that way. "I did what a concerned girlfriend would do. I rushed over to make sure you were ok."

"Casey was here with me," Chuck pointed out.

Casey saved Chuck's and her lives on the aborted second first date, but she didn't trust him absolutely. He's the reason the first first date ended, and he almost killed them. If the Intersect hadn't been destroyed, he probably would have interrupted the third first date. Sarah needed an excuse for Chuck, and there was one. "You've been attacked at Buy More before. Fulcrum knows about this place. The Beta Intersect was destroyed. You might have been attacked again."

Casey would have told her, but she didn't want to wait that long, so she closed Orange Orange and came over. Chuck didn't focus on her not waiting. He checked, "Are you saying Casey can't be trusted?"

"I'm not saying that, but trust has limits, especially considering the recent attacks by Colt and at the Beta Intersect lab. Your life isn't worth any risk." Not to me. Sarah managed to not say that last part aloud. She added, "Casey might have needed back-up."

"I understand, and I trust you. What was that kiss, though?"

"For the cover, I was a concerned girlfriend, so of course I kissed you." It definitely was what she should have done for the cover. It happened to correspond with what she wanted to do during their date, but that was a lucky coincidence. Sarah told herself she could do this: she could protect Chuck and be a cover-girlfriend, only doing what she needed to do for the cover. They needed to stop talking about kissing, though, so she changed the subject and asked, "What happened with Jeff?"

Chuck explained the wager, how Jeff said he could eat forty-five bags of Twinkies, which meant ninety Twinkies. Jeff got close, but he didn't win the bet. When he passed out, Chuck called 9-1-1. Sarah was relieved that Chuck didn't have to give Jeff CPR, considering she had just kissed Chuck, not knowing he might have picked up something.

Sarah said, "The important thing is there is nothing wrong with you. I'm a little surprised you went along with it."

"Buy More can be boring. I don't condone things like the Mystery Crisper and other eating challenges, but it's always entertaining to see what they come up with next."

"I'm a little surprised Casey went along with it."

Chuck wasn't. "Casey's more bored than the rest of us. I think he liked the idea of seeing Jeff risk his life. I was never in any danger." That was a good point. Casey wouldn't blow his cover by defending someone else on staff when it wasn't necessary. Chuck pointed out, "I'm surprised that Lester allowed it, considering how he and Jeff are always as thick as thieves. The entire idea was dangerous, so as the new assistant manager, it's now Lester's job to keep his friend under control."

"That's something else you need to explain to me. Why didn't you tell me you could've been the assistant manager?" Last year, Chuck wanted it, but didn't get it because he saved everyone at Santa Monica Pier. Sarah had no doubt that Chuck deserved it more than anyone else.

Chuck looked embarrassed. "I thought I wasn't going to be the Intersect anymore, so I wouldn't need to stay here. Working with you and Casey has really inspired me to move on. You told me I could do anything. I was going to finish my degree, and maybe we would… You know, it doesn't matter, because like you said, I'm the only Intersect. Big Mike offered me the job when we had the Cipher."

Sarah realized that if the Cipher recovery happened a couple days earlier or later, Chuck would be the assistant manager. "You didn't want it, so the greasy guy who made a move on me after we broke up is now your boss? I want you, not him." Oops. She didn't mean to say it that way. Maybe Chuck didn't notice.

He did notice. Chuck didn't say anything but didn't hide a big smile on his face. All they could do was stare at each other with longing looks. Eventually, he broke the tension in the air. "Big Mike was mad at me because I wouldn't take the job, so he made me select the new assistant manager." Sarah shook her head in disbelief, but she knew she shouldn't be surprised. Picking the assistant manager was the responsibility of the manager. Big Mike had shirked his responsibility and passed it to Buy More Corporate before, but that was when he felt guilty about his affair with Poppy Tang. This time he couldn't do that. He's lazy so he had effectively given Chuck a big promotion of responsibility to be the "king maker," without a better job title or officially giving him a promotion. Chuck continued, "We had to deal with the Cipher, so I put Morgan in charge of the search." Sarah was just happy that Chuck didn't get involved in a cage match Morgan told her about.

Sarah summarized to make sure she understood. "Lester's now in charge, because the man who runs this store is obviously not in charge. At least you won't have any difficulty leaving for missions anymore." She thought getting Lester as his right-hand was what Big Mike deserved.

Chuck looked down, uncomfortable about what he was about to say. "About that…" For a second, she worried that Chuck was going to say Lester was going to be an attentive assistant manager. If that was the case, Casey should have warned her because it affected the team. Chuck explained something else. "Lester told me he's been 'getting complaints' about me."

Sarah didn't believe that was possible. "Complaints? You?"

"Not really. I called him on it, and he said he wasn't getting compliments, which he said he counts as the same thing. The past year, many of my offsite installs have been covers for missions. The CIA has been paying, but the only paper trail is the completed work order. I'm a little uncomfortable asking for compliments, but—"

"That's no problem. We should have been doing that to make the covers for the missions stronger. We'll submit positive feedback forms to strengthen your standing so you can leave whenever you need to for missions." Sarah knew that Chuck, as the hero of Buy More, deserved it. She could easily change her handwriting for compliments and make them look like they were from many different people. She only had to restrain herself from going overboard when writing good things about Chuck.

They stared at each other for a while, not needing to say anything. This wasn't good, though. Sarah shouldn't gaze at him like that in private because Chuck was the only Intersect, and she was his handler, not allowed to compromise herself.

Fortunately, Chuck cleared his throat and broke away first. "So, um… You're going to help with my cover at the store to keep Lester off my back." Sarah nodded. "And if we need to… you know… do that thing you said we are never going to do again…" Sarah didn't say what he meant, but she knew he was talking about kisses for the cover.

A deep wrinkle formed on Chuck's brow. "If you're so worried about the cover, why did you tell Ellie that you can't be her bridesmaid? You were really happy when she asked."

"I've been feeling guilty because the wedding is not going to be until next spring, so when I thought the CIA was going to reassign me, I wouldn't be able to be at the wedding. I didn't say I didn't want to be her bridesmaid, but said I found out I might have to move back east, so it wouldn't be right."

"You're not moving now, so does that mean you'll do it again? You know you're welcome back regardless, don't you?"

Sarah didn't say yes, but that's what she hoped. She looked in Chuck's eyes and hoped he understood. Chuck seemed to understand part of it, so he said something that could help. "I told Ellie I was possibly going to leave this place, and she probably figures it's related. I'll mention to her that you aren't moving. Then, you'll be in the wedding again."

"It doesn't matter because I'm no longer a bridesmaid."

Chuck smiled. "Ellie didn't pick a replacement, so that won't be the case for long."

Sarah hoped so, but she also hoped to still be with Chuck by the wedding. Spring seemed so far away.

Chuck reached past her for the handle to the closet door so they could leave. With Chuck so close, she breathed in to get a deep whiff of Chuck… No. She had to stop thinking like that… But there was something they needed to do for the cover.

She put her hand on his to stop him from opening the door. "We need to look like we were doing what your coworkers would assume we were doing in here." She pulled Chuck's shirt out so he was half untucked. Then she grabbed Chuck's tie and loosened it. For an instant, she thought about what she'd like to do… Actually, that could work. She pulled Chuck's head down towards her by the tie and laid a sloppy kiss on his mouth. He wasn't ready, but it had the intended effect. Chuck was left with a dreamy look on his face. Her lipstick was smudged on his face. He looked like he had been in an intense, private make out session for several minutes. That's what he needed to look like for the cover.

Back out in the hall, the employees were all heading back to work. Sarah could tell the EMTs had left. She needed to head back to Orange Orange, so she gave Chuck a quick kiss goodbye. It was supposed to be a peck, but she could only restrain herself so much. Walking across the parking lot back to her cover job, she licked her lips and smiled.

A/N: The third first date was called off, but Sarah was more affectionate at the beginning of "Chuck vs the Seduction," both inside Chuck's daydreams and outside of them. Sarah was doing a lot of rationalization to herself to kiss Chuck like she did early in 2x02.

To me, it seemed like if Sarah was going to be asked to be Ellie's bridesmaid, she would have been asked a lot earlier after nine months, like we saw in the show when Ellie was going to ask in 2x03. Chapter 13 of this story had Ellie ask Sarah very fast, right after she accepted the proposal. That's inconsistent with what we saw, with Ellie seeing the back of Bryce at Orange Orange. This chapter fixed that. The entire thing was odd, though. Why did Sarah agree to be a bridesmaid when she could be reassigned? Why did Ellie suggest for Chuck to break up with one of her bridesmaids? (That'll come up in topic in chapter 28, when Sarah moves in with Chuck because Cole had been taken by Fulcrum.)

According to Chuck, "No one can eat 90 Twinkies." In 2008, that might have been true. In 2013, Joey Chestnut won a contest by eating 121 Twinkies in 6 minutes. Second place was more than 90. Third place was less. Jeff wasn't a world champion food eater, but he was stupid enough to endanger his health by pushing his gastric system to the limit.

MyNameIsJeffNImLost AU stories:
- "Sarah vs the Third First Date" (chapter 1 & 2, "Beginning of the Date" & "Happy Ending of the Date")
- "The Intersect Couple vs Flashing" - sequel to Chuck & Sarah vs Trust; part 1; "The Intersect Couple vs Not Flashing" (chapter 1, "Faking It")
- "Chuck & His Roommate vs the Next Mission" - sequel to Chuck vs His Former Handler (chapter 1, "Three 50th Dates")
- "Chuck vs Under the Cover" (chapter 7, "Enjoy the Rest of Your Life")