Castle in the Air
By Steampunk . Chuckster
Summary: Sarah has opened her dream bookstore just before the holiday season, but when a corporate monopoly announces their reduced-price brick-and-mortar is going in a block away, she must band together with her fellow small businesses to fight for their lives, even if it means getting past a slew of bad first impressions to work with Chuck, the owner of the comic book shop next door. AU Charah.
A/N: Thanks for still reading this holiday fic almost a month after the holiday I'm working towards in this story hahaha!
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or its characters, and any similarities in this fic to any corporate entities are just coincidence... shh.
She spotted him finishing off an ice cream cone, crushing the wrapper it had come in with one hand, while licking the fingers of his other hand that had been holding it.
She approached him as he tossed the paper in the nearby garbage can.
"So you decided to come…" she settled on. A million different ways to announce herself had gone through her mind. Along with What the fuck are you and Mom up to? But that one probably wouldn't start the conversation on a very good foot. Jack turned and fixed her with a wily grin. "Of course I came. Told ya I'd be here a few days, didn't I? Think I'd miss this? When my li'l girl is the one who set the whole thing up? Nah, not a chance."
"You had no problem missing my violin concert when I got a solo in middle school. And you had no problem missing…" She paused, gnawing on her bottom lip, the memories assailing her now as she stood in front of him. "…literally all of my graduations. Every one. From kindergarten to my graduation ceremony when I got my English degree at CC."
He winced. "I had important stuff going on and—"
"Don't." Sarah shook her head. "I deserve more respect than that. Don't lie to me. The game never worked on me, and it definitely won't now… The excuses. You can't take any of that back, it's done now, just… Whatever."
She hugged herself, shifting her weight. Why did she get herself into situations like this with her dad every single time? She talked herself into a dark hole of bad memories.
Not only that, but her parents were both at the festival, and there was the fact that they were talking and the discussion didn't include yelling like it always had…but seemed to be more like flirting.
Which… What the fuck?
And then there was Chuck's revelation of his conversation with them—which, again, what the fuck?! That had knocked her on her ass so completely that she'd opened her mouth and way too much had tumbled out.
She hadn't meant to say any of that, and he'd listened intently. He was Chuck, which meant he'd soaked it all up and would remember it forever. She'd only known him for a few months, and had been on talking terms with him for even less than that, but she'd discovered that he had a way of remembering the things she said.
Like he was storing it or something.
"You know what I found out today?" Jack crossed his arms, his smile becoming more of a smirk.
"What?"
He shifted closer, then uncrossed his arms and draped one over her shoulders. She liked it, it felt good, so she uncrossed her own arms and encircled the small of his back. "Somethin' about that schnook of yours."
"He isn't a schnook and he isn't mine."
Jack ignored her.
"He's got more than just a little comic book shop by the sea…"
Oh no. Shit. She should've known her dad would do some digging on Chuck, that he'd find out just who he was, and about the fortune of which he came into possession when his uncle died. This was bad. Very bad.
"He's also got my daughter."
Relief flooded through her.
And then she froze, giving him a glare. "I've told you a hundred times, Dad. There's nothing there. Besides that he's been a good friend to me." One of the best, she realized. The passionate sexual encounter in her back office aside. Though that was proving to be very difficult to put aside.
"Pretty sure your mom is wise to it just like I am."
So Chuck wasn't seeing ghosts after all. Right from the horse's mouth.
"Chuck told me he met you, that he saw you and Mom talking. Not screaming at each other, throwing things at each other, but…talking." She wasn't repeating what he said about flirting. She couldn't go down that road right now.
Jack slipped a mask over his face; she saw it clear as day. And that was a worse sign than anything. Her father had always exuded confidence, which made sense considering he was a confidence man, through and through. One of the best. He'd conned her mom, after all. And that confidence meant he rarely kept whatever snarky-ass mood he was in from showing on his face.
"Dad...?"
"Schnook's just talkin' out of his ass, that's all. I didn't know your mom would be here. She was. We saw each other, and maybe the holiday spirit got into us and we decided to chat without the yelling or the throwing things." He shrugged. "Maybe we decided not to ruin your special day."
"Rich," she mumbled, "Considering you haven't seen fit not to ruin other special days in my life. How many birthdays ended in slammed doors and screaming?" She pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes, crossing her arms. "Hmm."
"Okay, Sarcastic Sarah." Jack nudged her, then took a step away, turning to face her, arms out. "Why can't you just be happy your dad's here and your mom's here?"
"Because nothing is that simple with you two. Ever. I wish it was. I wish I could let my guard down and just be happy you're both here, but every time I let my guard down, I get a kick to the teeth."
"Now who's kickin' you in the teeth, Darlin'?" He puffed out his chest.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Dad, just be on the level with me. Was it really an accident, the both of you being here, seeing each other, chatting without the animosity…?"
"That's all there is to it. We decided to behave today. I don't even know where she is. Once the schnook ran off to harass that corporate spy stiff, she ran off to find someone named…Ellie?" He shrugged.
"That's Chuck's sister."
"Is it? Now your mom is besties with the Family Schnook?"
Sarah ignored his barbs. "Chuck said you knew what that guy was right when you laid eyes on him."
"Who, the suit? Of course I did." He pointed her towards a game booth. "C'mere. Your dad's gonna win you a prize."
"No, you aren't."
"What d'you mean?" he asked defensively.
"Because I know how you operate with these play a game win a prize booths. You're going to cheat the guy running the game," she said matter-of-factly.
"Me? Cheat? You wound me!"
"Dad, I'm not letting you cheat these people."
"I'm not gonna! I'm gonna play fair 'n square, I swear. Hehe. Like that? S'why your mom married me. I'm a poet."
She ignored that, too. "You never play fair and square. You never do anything fair and square. And this is my community. These business owners are my allies in a fight against a much bigger foe than we have any right to go against, and I'm not letting my dad cheat them."
Rolling his eyes, Jack stepped out of the line, holding his hands up defensively. "Jesus Christ, Sar. Fine." He actually sounded a bit miffed. Let him. She didn't care if she pissed him off or offended him.
"How'd you know that Shaw guy was from Cadabra?"
"I didn't immediately peg him as Cadabra right off the bat. But those eggheads always look like that. And the way he was slobberin' over my li'l girl? Spoke of a lot of confidence. Anyone who tries to make a play at a woman so far out of his league the way you're outta his? That's big-tech-business-bro confidence. Nobody ever told those li'l fuckers no."
Sarah snorted, amused. "Okay, well… you're probably not wrong. But he got a no from me."
"Of course he did. Please. I raised my daughter to have taste, first of all, and secondly, self-respect."
She didn't know how to respond to that because he didn't raise her, let alone raise her to have taste or self-respect. Where was she supposed to get self-respect from when he disrespected her at every turn when she was growing up?
"I noticed that your comic book guy—"
"Are you ever going to call him by his name? It's Chuck."
"That's terrible. But fine, if I see him again, I'll call him Charlie. That's much better."
"Trying to make him sound like a conman like you?" she asked quietly, not needing anyone around to hear her call her dad a conman.
"Charlie is way better than…Chuck." He made a face, shivering. "But like I was saying, he really hightailed it over there when he saw the shit-for-brains grifter trying to make a move. Pretty interesting. Your mom thought so, too."
Sarah grit her teeth. She still felt something was left unsaid about that whole situation with her dad and mom. Chuck wouldn't have used the word flirting if he hadn't felt that vibe from them.
"You think that was jealousy?" She snorted. "What it was was a guy who worked his ass off to open his comic book shop, built it up from scratch, and now has a corporate giant breathing down his neck…only to see said corporate giant send a freaking spy out here to our festival we knocked ourselves out to put together. I thought he was gonna hit him for a second," she admitted, raising an eyebrow and pursing her lips.
Jack laughed. She didn't mean to send him a defensive look, and he definitely spotted it, his smirk growing. "Sarah. Darlin'. Genuinely don't mean offense but you think Mister Stick Arms is gonna clean the clock of that guy? He was ripped. I mean, I'll take your comic book guy over a loser like that suit any day but, uhhhhh, not in a fight."
"Well, last thing any of us needs is for Cadabra to have grounds for steamrolling us because one of the Victoria Shopping Center tenants punched a Cadabra employee who was just checking out our festival." She rolled her eyes. "You know they wouldn't stop 'til they buried Chuck."
They'd take every last cent of his uncle's fortune.
Jack looked at her for a long moment. "This whole thing means a lot to you, doesn't it? Your bookstore, this Cadabra asshole barging into your town…"
"Of course. I've been dreaming about my Castle in the Air since…forever. Since I realized I love to read."
Her father nodded slowly, a serious look on his face. "It's all gonna work out, kiddo. Okay?"
Sarah didn't believe him when he said that to her. Because he'd let her down too many times. And he'd made promises he couldn't keep. Maybe it wasn't fair for her to shoot a jaunty, "You promise?" at him.
But it was even less fair for him to shoot back, "Of course." With one of his cocky shrugs, too.
And then he glanced at his watch. "Darlin', I gotta go. Someplace I gotta be. But hey, congrats on this festival. You did great work here. That, uh, schnook you fancy did okay, too, I guess."
"He isn't a schnook and I don't fancy 'im."
Her dad merely snorted and moved in to kiss her on the cheek, before dashing off to be wherever it was he had to be.
}o{
Every bit of her body ached like she'd just been caught in an avalanche and had tumbled down the side of Mt. Fucking Everest.
But the people were gone, the party over.
The sun had been set for hours; the moon was high above them, the lights were all turned off. It was so damn cold out here, the ocean breeze blustering through the little alley the buildings created right where her booth was set up. And she still had boxes to fill with books and move them back into her store.
She glanced at her watch. Oh God, kill her, it was after ten.
Sarah just barely bit back a groan, instead hurrying to grab stacks, move them to the boxes, pile the boxes on the dolly Chen rolled over for her to use, and lug them inside her front door where they'd be safe from the elements and theft.
Everything had come together so perfectly, people crowding into the festival. She'd sold so much of her stock that she'd had to go in and lug more out numerous times to fill gaping holes in her displays.
She decided to ignore the dark cloud of her parents being seen potentially flirting with one another. (What the fuck?)
She ignored the Cadabra employee in his nice suit and leather shoes trying to ask her out, too. Well, most of it. Shanks or whatever his name was? He was easy to toss out of her mind entirely.
But she decided she didn't want to toss out the memory of Chuck walking over and challenging the guy. She thought about it throughout the rest of the day and found herself smiling quietly, a pleased little hum in her chest. Because he hadn't walked in with his chest all puffed up, making his tall frame even taller. He made a point of keeping his challenge to the task at hand, too. He knew the asshole was here from Cadabra and he wanted to make sure the asshole knew that he knew. He'd also clearly wanted Sarah to know who the guy was, too, which was understandable because she did want to know that information. She didn't want to waste her breath politely brushing the wannabe suitor off if he was from Cadabra. A more effective version of "fuck off" was all the guy was fit for.
And then Chuck had stumbled through trying to explain himself, insisting he knew she could take care of herself but he thought she'd want to know the weasel spy who'd been hitting on her was from Cadabra. She was well aware he knew how it looked—that he was jealous, watching someone else ask her out on a date, and he swept in to "save her". She believed him when he said it wasn't that, and then, at the same time, she had a feeling there was at least some inkling of that in him.
In spite of herself, that made her feel kind of good.
She wouldn't admit it out loud, though.
She'd just keep that warm little nugget of information in her chest for cold days. Like right now, for instance, as she hoisted a box onto the dolly with a grunt. Because it was cold out here, easily in the forties now that the sun had gone down. Her fingers were numb and she hadn't brought gloves, like an idiot.
"Beeeeep beeeep beeeeeep!"
Sarah spun to watch as Morgan came towards her, a box in his arms. "W-What are you—?"
Morgan straightened up after putting the box on the dolly, reaching up to his head to give her a salute, even tapping his heels together. "Commander Walker, I am here to help. We are going to do whatever you tell us you need us to do. The troops await your orders."
Flint came up, rolling their eyes. "We're done packing up our booth. How can we help?"
Sarah shut her eyes for a moment, rolling her head back, opening them again, and staring up into the cloud-filled dark sky. The parents she was trying so hard not to emulate danced mockingly up in those clouds, together, flirting, after years of giving their daughter trauma with their fighting and shit-talking each other at her, their wheeling and dealing, their leeching.
She sighed, lowering her head again, crossing her arms. Leeching wasn't the same as accepting help when it was offered, especially when well-meaning friends and neighbors were doing the offering.
"Okay. Fine. I'll let you guys help me—again—but only because it's fucking frigid out here and I want to get myself into a hot bath as soon as possible," she assented, pointing at the couple of tables still stacked with books. "Try getting the books with the same genre into a box together, but if you can't, I don't even fucking care at this point," Sarah finished with a tired chuckle.
"On it," Flint said.
"What's a genre?" Everyone turned to look at Morgan and he froze, then he cleared his throat, giving them all a sheepish smile. "…Okay, maybe it's too cold for jokes. Tough crowd."
"I can't wait to drink coffee that isn't cold."
Sarah turned quickly on her heel, not having heard Chuck approach. Her insides reacted to him immediately. And this was absolutely becoming a problem. She scoffed inwardly at that. Becoming?
She could think of a million different ways she could make him warm, and vice versa, but maybe she needed to chill the hell out and worry about the shit ton of books stacked on multiple tables that she still hadn't gotten put away. And she swore by the time she got home it'd be after one in the morning at this rate if she didn't keep it in her pants.
"Uh… Yeah. Though a bit late for coffee for me…" she said quietly, hearing how lame she sounded. "I'd never be able to sleep."
"Oh? Hm. Guess that makes sense. Caffeine." He strolled up slowly, pulling at his jacket zipper to protect himself a bit more from the cold. "Maybe I'll opt for the bath, too." He pulled his lips back between his teeth, they stared at one another, and then he shook himself and gestured behind her. "I'm gonna start packing these books into boxes for ya."
"Yeah!" she blurted, nodding. "Thanks. Thank you." He hurried around her and started getting to work, and she just stood there, wincing at how awkward this was all of a sudden.
How?
How did they go from dancing together, enjoying themselves, Chuck asking her if she regretted last night, how adamant she was about not regretting it, the look on his face… to this utter awkwardness, tiptoeing around each other, blushing…?
She just hoped the others chalked it up to the cold, brisk air out here so near the ocean.
At a certain point, both Morgan and Flint started playing off of one another, and began to sing that digging song from the Disney Snow White cartoon. Even Chuck crooned out a, "Hiii hooooooooooo!" as he lugged a box to the dolly.
Now, the tables were cleared, boxes were stacked inside of Castle in the Air Bookstore, and Chuck was leaning on the handles of the last dolly of boxes, ready to take them in.
"Soldiers, you are dismissed!" he exclaimed, saluting both Flint and Morgan. "With extra pay for today, since both of you worked overtime."
"Okay, it's home for me, then," Morgan said. "Some Mexican hot chocolate and my mom's pan before a hot shower and—oh, maybe the shower first, then the hot chocolate y pan." He moved in to high-five his best friend, the slap of their hands meeting reverberating through the air, then he trotted over and held up his hand to high-five Sarah.
She gladly accepted it, giggling. "Morgan, thank you so much. You put off your cocoa and pan for a while to help me get my books back inside and I appreciate it a lot."
"Ahhhh naw." He blushed, waving his hand through their air dismissively. "It's what you do for a neighbor. A friend." He grinned. "Flint? Fortnite later tonight?"
"Hell yeah, dude," they called after him with a wave. "Text me in, like, an hour!"
Chuck thrusted his hands out to the side and made an offended sound. "Excuse me? What am I, chopped liver?"
Morgan snorted. "You don't play Fortnite, man! You refuse because you think it's a cult."
Flint gasped, covering their mouth with both hands, shaking their head at him as if they were appalled.
"It kind of is, though," Chuck reasoned with a shrug.
Sarah had no idea what she was witnessing, what they were talking about, but she accepted the high-five from Flint, thanked them, watched them high-five Chuck, and trot off after Morgan to the parking lot.
"Last load," Chuck said then, causing Sarah to turn back to him with a smile.
"I can take it in. You've done so much to help me out in the last hour alone, let alone all freaking day… Just go home and relax." She moved to his side and tried to gently nudge him away from the dolly.
"Nah ah. I'll wheel this bad boy inside for ya. Not that you can't do it, but I've already got hold of it and oops, here I goooooo, I'm goooiiiing." He was already pulling it towards her store's front door, grinning toothily.
"Oh my God, you're so dumb," she giggled, rolling her eyes and grabbing anything else off of the table, dumping it in a tote, and following after him to open the door, letting him wheel the dolly inside.
She stepped in after him, shutting the door behind her, and they worked together to unload the boxes from the cart and set them down on the floor. "Here is good," she said. "Thanks."
"Sure. You keeping the dolly?"
"Yeah—Oh. Oh shit." She groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"What's wrong?" He straightened up in concern, having put the last box down by her front counter.
"I told Chen he could get the dolly from the store tomorrow but I'm closed tomorrow. I won't be here. I'm gonna have to come all the way back anyway now so I can give him the stupid thing. I don't know what I was thinking." She smacked the handle on the dolly, frustrated.
"Oh, damn." Chuck furrowed his brow. Then something must've struck him because he snapped his fingers and pointed over towards his shop. "Got an idea. We take it over to mine. We're open tomorrow. I'll just let them know Chen's gonna come grab it in case I'm not there. I'll text Chen and tell him he can grab the dolly from Ashcan."
Sarah tilted her head, smirking. "Saved my ass again, Bartowski."
He chuckled. "It isn't that serious. I can literally just wheel it over there, unlock the door, roll it inside, redo the alarm, voila." He posed dramatically, earning a giggle.
"Okay, then. If it's so easy, let's do it. I feel really bad for keeping you here all of this time. And-And Morgan and Flint."
"Don't worry, I'm paying them the big bucks for staying so long."
"Okay fine," she said, holding the door for him to roll the dolly out, then stepping out herself, turning off the lights and shutting the door, locking it securely. "Then just you. Nobody's compensating you for being out here in the cold 'til practically midnight."
He was quiet, the dolly rattling against the cement path he pulled it along, and then they got to his door. He opened it and he rushed in to turn off the alarm. Sarah followed, taking it upon herself to tug the dolly in and let the door shut behind her.
Chuck came back, the alarm off, and he smiled. "Actually, since you're officially stepping foot in Ashcan again, I might…have something for ya."
A comic book? Was he serious? She gave him a deeply amused look as he passed it over. And damn it, she was intrigued by the cover. "Okay, what is this? I've told you, you aren't getting me to read one of these."
"Just try it. Try it. Please?" He winced.
She took in the scantily clad warrior woman on the front. "This is the type of image that non-comic book people associate with comic books. And it isn't exactly a good thing. I hope you know that. Lady in no clothes practically."
"Okay the cover art leaves much to be desired but the story and art on the inside will blow your mind."
"Why this one?"
"Why?" he repeated, shifting his weight uncomfortably. Now she was especially intrigued as she nodded, moving in a bit closer. "Um, why. Right. Well, she's a bad ass warrior woman. She kicks ass, she's super smart, determined. And she doesn't always step perfectly right, you know? Because even if you aren't completely human because you've got some super in you, you still make mistakes because you're a living thing, which is why I love these stories. But-But that doesn't derail her from her goal. I guess I think you'll like her because you kind of—erm, well she reminds me of you, I guess."
"Oh, me and all my mistakes I make?" she teased him, raising an eyebrow.
He laughed. "That's what you took from that? Not the kicking ass, super smart, determined part? Or the bad ass warrior woman part?"
She grinned toothily, her tongue between her teeth. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. "You've been…kind of wonderful today, Chuck Bartowski. So I'm having a hard time saying no this time." She wiggled the comic book. "I will…" She paused dramatically, charmed out of her mind by the way he bent his knees and wrinkled up his face, his hands clasped in front of his chin hopefully. "…try this comic book."
"Woo!" He punched his fists into the air and leaned his head back. "Yes!"
Sarah cracked up, shaking her head. And then she quietly followed him out of his shop. "But I'm paying for this. It's…oh shit, only five bucks?" She turned it over.
"It's on the house. I'm too excited you're actually trying to read a comic for me to make you pay." He held the door open for her. "And yeah, a comic book ranges between five to eight bucks. Graphic novels, mind you, are pricier."
"What's the difference?"
He set his alarm, a smile on his face, and then he hurried out and shut the door, flicking the lights, locking it behind him. She felt the end of the day approaching, really the first time in well over fifteen hours that she wouldn't be in the same general space as Chuck Bartowski. And she was a little scared of the empty feeling in her chest at the thought of it.
This was good. It had been such a long day. She was aching. She needed a hot bath and some hot cocoa or tea. And then she wanted to sleep halfway through tomorrow. She'd deal with the mess of box-filled books and re-shelving them later. Ugh. Monday would be awful.
And yet…getting into her car, waving at him, driving away from him, felt like such a bummer. She sort of wanted to stick around.
"The difference," he said, pocketing his keys, "is that I gave you the first issue of this run. That's just one issue. Around thirty pages, twenty-something of actual story, the rest typically advertisements of other issues for other comic books from the publisher, maybe some cool art. A graphic novel, on the other hand, will collect multiple issues in what looks like more of a, um, a book form. You know, with hard covers, and the pages inside. So you'll find Volume 1 of, say, Batman Rebirth, might have the first four or six issues that were put out." He poked the comic he gave her.
"Oh. That's not confusing at all."
He snorted. "You think that's confusing? Try diving into a character's comic archive and finding the right place to start."
She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"Say you wanna start, um, Batman… Do you wanna do Detective Comics Batman? Which is the one from the 'thirties? You'd have to read a bajillion comics. Legends of the Dark Knight? The Batman Chronicles? Gotham Knights? All-Star Batman? Detective Comics came back with Rebirth…"
"Okay, stop. My brain is too tired for this," she laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be trying to make me wanna read these things? That's not helping."
"Aw, shit. My big mouth. Forget I said any of that. Comic books are amazing, you'll love them, I promise," he rushed out, wrinkling his nose cutely. "Sometimes I'm a little too honest."
Sarah watched him for a few moments, a smile slowly growing over her face. "You say that like it's a bad thing when the world is full of liars, cheats, and conmen." She had the genes of one of them, so she knew what she was talking about. "For once I'm looking at a man I can trust to tell me the truth."
He made a dopey face, lips pursed in a smolder, eyebrow raised, and he stepped in close, glancing to and fro. "You sure about that? I can be pretty unscrupulous sometimes."
"Oh, yeah?" she giggled.
"Not really. I just wanted to use the word unscrupulous; it's such a good word."
She laughed. They turned to slowly walk towards the parking lot. "All right, how's this? I've just been out in the cold all day, the ocean wind blasting through here, and not once have I looked in an actual mirror." She turned to face him with a wily smirk, knowing exactly what she was doing. "Do I look like a crazy woman or what?" She tugged at some of the hairs she knew were sticking out of her braid.
Chuck grinned, pulling her to a stop with his hand wrapped around hers, her car a mere few feet away. "I know you think you've caught me out with a question like that, but the joke's on you, Bookworm. There's something you need to know about me and that is that a girl who has been hard at work getting to know a community she's new to whilst simultaneously running her business and fighting a Goliath monopoly is never ever gonna be anything less than mind-blowingly stunning to me, windswept braid, rosy cheeks, untucked blouse, scuffed sneakers and all."
She'd seen his eyes sweep down and take her in, a fondness, a deep affection in his face. Totally unguarded, genuine.
Sarah didn't hesitate.
She closed the distance and wrapped him up in her arms, hugging him tightly. It took a moment—she'd apparently surprised him with how he'd tensed up—but his arms encircled her waist and he hugged her back. She turned her face into his neck, taking a deep breath, her nose pressed against his skin.
It was silent for a good twenty seconds, Chuck and Sarah simply holding one another. And she realized during those good twenty seconds that she felt a foreign sensation in her chest as they clung, as she enjoyed having his arms embrace her.
She didn't know what the sensation was.
Her life once her parents split had been traveling to places with her dad, only to come back to her mom who'd never made a home feel like a home with the way she bounced around apartments. And Sarah had done the same when she broke away from her mom at seventeen to live on her own, working multiple jobs until she decided to go after what she wanted, which then meant working multiple jobs and attending community college. She'd been lucky enough to qualify for low-income housing, lucky that the mayor at the time had prioritized that for Los Angeles's low wage earners. But that had also meant apartment hopping every year or two.
She'd never belonged somewhere.
It had never crossed Sarah Walker's mind that she could belong somewhere, that it was something she might want to strive for. Whether it be a family, a place, or even just another person. Her exes never gave her any sensations anywhere close to that.
So she couldn't possibly decipher the sensation she felt right in that moment, wrapped up in Chuck Bartowski, as belonging. Even though that was what it was. Not a possessive belonging, but a peace, a comfort, a safety, that was unlike anything else in the world.
She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, and then, as one, they slowly unfurled their arms from one another and took a small step back.
Sarah stared at his chest, her own chest filled with his words. The kindness in them, but also the sincerity. "Thanks…for saying that." And then one part of what he said struck her and she glanced down.
Oh, shit. It was untucked. She'd worn a wide belt over the high waist of her jeans in an attempt to look a little nicer for the festival and somehow it hadn't kept her blouse from tugging itself out in the front after all of the work she'd been doing all day. Maybe it was from packing away her books and hefting boxes around during break-down and clean-up? She decided that was a nicer thought than it being like that all damn night.
She cleared her throat and delicately tucked the corner of the blouse back into her pants.
He shook his head. "I didn't say that to embarrass you, or to make you correct the…erm, untuckedness. It-it was—"
"No, I know," she interrupted, trying to spare him the explanation. "You were being sweet." As always.
She glanced at her car then and he seemed to take it as a hint, moving to the side so that she could access the door. She hadn't meant to cut this short, but now she knew she had to go with it, so she moved to the driver's side door and pushed the button on her keys to unlock it, opening it.
And when she turned back to him to say goodnight, he lunged at her, wrapping her up in another, even tighter hug, his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in close. She felt his face against her hair as she smiled and hugged him back this time.
He pulled back quicker this time, and then his warm hands were gently cupping either side of her face, and she melted against him when one of his thumbs stroked along the line of her jaw.
"You were…" Chuck paused for a moment, his brow furrowed as he searched for a word. "…magnificent today. Like, inspiring levels of incredible. Like a non-super in a comic book; you don't have superpowers but you fight like hell to do the right thing and save the world when the superhero's captured and can't be there to do it like they usually do."
Sarah felt a highly amused, closed mouth smile spread across her mouth, her eyes shimmering in the light from the nearby parking lot lamppost. "I don't really know what you're talking about with the non-super stuff, but it's probably a pretty big compliment to hear something like that from a huge comic book nerd…?"
"Definitely," he gushed. And he blushed a little, moving his hands to her arms and squeezing. "Sorry. I really…am a nerd. Probably messed up what otherwise would've been a super genuine moment. I actually meant what I said, though." He winced.
"Don't apologize to me for being so completely yourself," she said, without pausing, without thinking first, without guarding or filtering. "It's a gift. A very nerdy gift."
They laughed together, and she looked down at his chest again, feeling the blush on her own face. "You were magnificent, too. None of this would've worked without you running around everywhere all day, putting out potential fires before they happened."
Chuck shrugged, a shy smile on his face. "It had to be done."
She tugged on the front of his jacket. "Good night, Chuck."
"Night. Get some rest tomorrow. You deserve it."
"So do you."
"Ehhh, we'll see. Not sure they can do it without me." He wrinkled up his nose and shrugged one shoulder cutely.
"Oh, sure," she giggled.
He finally backed away from her towards the only other car in the lot, lifting his hand in one last wave, and she swung into her seat behind the wheel, staring after him as he turned and sauntered the rest of the way, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
Sarah shut herself up in her car, turning it on, immediately getting the heat going, and she found herself musing that no mere car heater would be able to replicate the feeling of his hands cupping her face, his eyes boring into hers, and the sound of his voice as he called her magnificent.
}o{
"I wanna tag it."
Chuck smirked up at the large building, still seemingly untouched by the greedy grubby fingers of Cadabra as the corporation jumped through the bureaucratic hoops and made its way through all of the red tape.
He glanced over at Anna. "I'd bail you out if you got caught."
She reached the hand over that wasn't holding her coffee and he swatted at it for a sort of side-high-five. "Hell yeah, boss," she muttered.
"Don't say I don't do nothin' for ye's," he growled at her in his best Cagney impression.
"You know what I'd put on it right now? Like, if I had a can of spray paint in my hand?"
"Banksy was here?" he joked. She gave him a flat look and he winced. "I know. Bad joke. What would you tag?"
"Eat shit, Frezos," she drawled. "That's what I'd tag on it. Right across the front, here. Eat. Shit. Frezos."
"Maybe the next time he coughs up a billion dollars to shoot himself into space, the rocket fuel will spring a leak and he'll get stuck out there," he said with a wistful sigh.
"Don't say that, Chuckles," she admonished.
Chuck raised an eyebrow at her, surprised. He sipped his coffee and winced. "You're right. He's a bad man but I shouldn't wish someth—"
"What if some alien race is sweeping space for valuable garbage, they find his rocket floating out there, pull him in, and that's their first contact with humankind on Earth? They'll think we're all fucking scum like him and they'll decide to blow the whole planet up to try to protect the rest of the universe from us."
He rocked forward, laughing so hard he nearly choked on his own spit. "See, this is why I hired you."
"I'm a psychopath?" she asked smoothly with a smirk.
"Yes. Every comic book shop needs a psychopath."
Anna Wu shrugged, slurping her drink. "We should get back. If there are any Cadabra people in there looking out at us right now, we've already stayed too long. Then they'll be able to recognize me in a line-up."
He hoisted his coffee towards her, shivering in the cold, and she thunked her own against it. "Yep. Let's get outta here."
They walked back along the sidewalk towards the corner that led them back to Ashcan Comics. "You know, there's a city council meeting tonight. It'd be cool if a few of you showed up. If you can," he added quickly. "I don't know if that's something you want to do. It's kind of a drag. Lots of dumb chatting and meeting nonsense before they get to the part where we get to make comments…"
"Maybe," she shrugged. "I'll see what my schedule looks like. I think me and Morgie might go to the arcade. If I can convince him."
Chuck turned to give her a wide-eyed look. Well! That was new! "Oh yeah? Well, that's cool. I—Wait, he has to be convinced to go to an arcade? That doesn't sound like my best friend. You sure he isn't a pod person?"
Anna turned to give him a narrow-eyed look. "What do you mean?"
"Morgan loves the arcade. That's like…his home away from home away from home. 'Cause, you know, his first home away from home is Ashcan." Chuck paused. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You think he's trying to get out of it? He told me he had to see if he was free, whatever the hell that means."
Chuck licked his lips. "Oh. Um, I think that means he wasn't sure what his schedule looks like, y'know? So he has to, uh…"
"What? Check his calendar? He doesn't have a calendar, Chuck. Do you think he wrote it down in his journal? He doesn't have a journal, either, Chuck!"
"That's true, he…is too lazy for either of those things. For that matter, so'm I. I'm sure he's not trying to get out of your date—hang-out!" he corrected when Anna whirled on him, her eyes wide.
"Date? Did he tell you we've been on dates? He has no right to put a label on—"
Chuck pulled his wrist up, then glanced over towards Castle in the Air Bookstore as they crossed the parking lot. "Oh shit. Sorry, Anna. I've gotta meet Sarah. I almost forgot. There are a few items she wanted to go over before the city council meeting."
That was a lie, but he needed to get the hell out of this situation.
"Fine. Me and Flint and Morgan will take care of the store. I'm probably going to have to have a talk with Mr. Grimes, however." She stomped towards the Ashcan Comics entrance, grumbling something about "Loves arcades… The little troll…"
Chuck let out a relieved breath and raced to the bookstore, ducking inside, putting on a show by turning to paste his back against the window beside the door and peek out as if he was hiding from someone.
"Um… You…okay?"
He felt the rush of his blood at the sound of her voice and he turned, a grin on his face as he looked for her. She was standing with a customer in the horror section, a couple of books in her hand and a few books in the customer's. They were both staring at him with wide eyes.
His grin dimmed when he realized he'd just done that in front of a stranger. Why had he taken it for granted it'd just be Sarah in here? Damn it.
"Ahhh…yeah." He cleared his throat, dropping the act. "I was just foolin' around. You can…um, go back to your…yeah…heh…hehe…ahem." He reached up to scratch behind his ear awkwardly.
She sent him a small smirk, her eyebrows furrowed dubiously, and she went back to her customer. "If you're into gory, definitely this one." She lifted a book that looked to have dripping blood all over the cover. "I didn't get further than fifty pages in and I had to put it down. Not that it was bad!" she rushed out. "I oftentimes can only spare the first fifty pages of a book, just so I know whether I want to keep it in my store. Sometimes only ten, depending. It had lots of blood and guts, so it sounds like it'd be right up your alley."
The man nodded, taking it and turning it over to read about it. "Oh, interesting. Sounds like it has screwed up family dynamics, kidnapping, butchering… Perfect. I'll take these two." He wiggled the two books he wanted and Sarah took the rest of them that he wasn't taking, merely stacking them on top of the horror section, likely to put away later.
Chuck was still a little hung up on this guy's glee about screwed up family dynamics, kidnapping, and butchering. Jesus Christ.
He decided to keep one eye on the thirty-something looking guy just in case, as he moved to take a look at Sarah's new releases.
It had been a few days since the festival now, and he'd secretly peeked out of his store's front window to see more people than he'd ever seen in the last few months wandering into the Castle in the Air Bookstore. Better yet, he'd seen more folks walking out with full paper bags stamped with her store's logo. The festival had introduced the Del Rey community to their new bookstore and its owner, and it seemed it was starting to take.
Hopefully it would prove to be a continued pattern and not just a good few days of sales.
Chuck picked up a black hardcover book with a cool silvery green serpent design on the cover, making an interested hum, watching as the customer left the bookstore.
He glanced over his shoulder and tried to peek around the store to make sure no one else was there, and then he turned back to see Sarah coming around the corner to approach him.
She grinned, looking at the book he held. "You into erotic fantasy?"
Chuck gaped at her, then did a double take at the book. "Is that what this is? The cover is so cool! Damn! Why do I keep getting caught holding romances? What the hell is this? I'm being trapped."
Sarah laughed, taking it from him. "Watch this. I can open to virtually any page of this and there will be a super graphic sex scene between the enemies to lovers couple at the center of the story." She popped open the book and raised her eyebrows. "Ah. Lovely. 'He wrapped her pulsating breast in his large, wanton hand, his hips driving into her with a vengeance.' Oh boy, this is pretty bad. But it's a best seller already and just came out yesterday, so…" She shrugged, handing it back to him.
"I think I'll skip it," he said, his throat constricting. He really hoped she couldn't hear how her reading that aloud had stolen most of his oxygen straight out of his lungs. He cleared said throat and set it back down, giving it a little gentle tap for good measure.
"That's not something you wanna read?"
"The cover is super cool which is why I picked it up. I had no idea it was that. I also didn't realize breasts pulsate so there's that."
Sarah threw her head back with a laugh. "Listen, people love books like that. It's all over TikTok."
"Not my cuppa tea but I guess I can't judge."
She pointed towards her door then, tilting her head in curiosity. "By the way, what was that whole production when you came in. You hiding from somebody in my store? I've got a whole room back there; I can tell 'em I don't even know who you are, let alone where."
Chuck knew she had a whole room back there, and he'd thought about that room and what happened in that room every single day since. Many times a day, too many times.
"Ah, I was just being a dork to make you laugh. For some reason, my dumb brain didn't figure out that I was doing that in a freaking store where other people might see it and not just you." He thunked his forehead with his palm.
"You were trying to make me laugh?" she asked, biting her lip. "Really?"
"Mmm." Chuck nodded. "And I failed miserably."
"It's the thought that counts."
That made him laugh, and she giggled nasally, her tongue poking between her teeth as she beamed. "Ouch. Okay. Right. Nah, I just went to grab a coffee with Anna. She started getting all intense about Morgan and I maybe stuck my foot in my mouth more than once and owe Morgan a huge apology probably, too?" He winced. "But I used you as an excuse to get outta that situation lllllickety-split. Hope you don't mind."
"You used me. Wow. And here I thought you were so much better than all those other boys." She winked. He loved it. He couldn't stop the crooked grin on his face if he tried.
"I never said I was," he heard himself flirt. Damn it. He hadn't meant to just…unleash like this.
Sarah pursed her lips and glanced to the side, her blue eyes sparkling. "What was the intense stuff about? I mean, Anna with Morgan…?" She moved away from him, going back to the horror section, grabbing the stack, and starting to put them away alphabetically, her lips moving just slightly as she likely ran through the alphabet in her mind. He was so relieved he wasn't the only one who had to do that.
"Apparently she and Morgan were maybe going to go to the arcade together tonight, but he said he 'had to see if he was free' or whatever," he explained, doing air quotes with his fingers up by his ears. "And I stupidly didn't filter and went, 'herp derp what?! See if he's free?! It's the arcade; Morgan loves the arcade!'" He rolled his eyes at himself and she wrinkled her nose at him, confused. "Anna immediately took it as Morgan trying to get out of hanging out with her if he's usually so gung-ho about the arcade."
"Oh, shit. Wow. Oops," she droned, turning back to face him as she finished putting the books away. "Not great."
"Nope. So she started getting intense. And then I further jammed my foot down my throat when I insisted Morgan wasn't trying to get out of the date. And she made this half-shocked, half-angry face, and I realized why belatedly and corrected it to 'hang-out'…" Chuck winced even harder as Sarah hissed in commiseration.
"Oh, Chuck. Chuck, no."
"Well, I don't know! They're so weird about their…thing. Whatever the hell it is. And Morgan and I share a lot of stuff, pretty much tell each other everything—" He froze, eyes wide. "N-Not everything everything. Just a lot of things. I wouldn't—I-I mean, I didn't tell him about…"
"You really are shoving your foot way in there today, huh?" she teased him.
He made a mocking face. "Hahhhh. Funny."
Sarah moved closer then, leaning her hip against the new release table in front of the new release wall. And she gave him a searching look, crossing her arms. "Whatever it is they…do…you know, in the comic book shop…"
"Oh, it's weird. It's this hot 'n cold dance, but no dancing, really. This staring thing. And then they'll be in a fight. And the air in that shop is, like…freezing cold, but then two seconds later, it's crackling." He whistled and shook his head.
Sarah shifted her weight, seeming tentative suddenly. "Yeah, Flint's told me about it. Um…" She pulled her lips between her teeth and wrinkled her nose again, narrowing her eyes. "It makes them super uncomfortable to be around it."
Chuck snorted. "They're not wrong. I'm also very uncomfortable when they do that shit."
"Do you think maybe that's, um, distracting? I mean, for a workplace? What if customers are around, too? Like, a little… Well, it's not something you really want customers witnessing in a professional retail space, is it?"
He found himself sort of just standing there, staring at her, her words sinking in. "I mean, sure. Yeah. You're right, it isn't great. I guess we all got used to it over the past few months since it started."
"I'm sure, yeah." Sarah sighed. "But I guess what I'm saying is maybe it isn't good for Flint, or-or Luce, or even you to be uncomfortable at work because of the intense romantic behavior from two coworkers during work hours on the sales floor."
Chuck glanced down at his feet. "Flint said that? That they're uncomfortable at work? They went outta their way to tell you that?"
"Not out of their way, no. Like, they didn't come here specifically to complain about it to me. It came up…organically." She took his arm gently. "Don't be upset with them. They came to help me out and needed to let off a little steam because Morgan and Anna were being weird at the store I guess, making them uncomfortable."
He frowned. "Oh. No, I'm-I'm not upset with them. But I feel bad. I didn't know. Why didn't they talk to me about it?"
Sarah lowered her chin and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Isn't Morgan your, like, best best best friend—basically your brother—and the assistant manager of Ashcan?"
"Well, yeah but…" He frowned harder, his voice fading out. "Aw, man. Well, what do I do about it? I can't take them aside and be like 'knock it off, you two' because…"
"Because?" she prompted, squeezing his arm with the hand that was still there.
"I don't have a because. I'm feeling very exposed right now."
She giggled and crossed her arms, glancing outside at the overcast day. "Don't feel exposed. You're not in trouble. Remember, I'm done being the principal calling you into my office." She winced cutely, her eyes sweeping back to meet his.
"I remember. I feel like I'm sort of coming to terms with the fact that I always thought I was a good manager and as it turns out, maybe I'm not."
"It isn't as serious as all that. C'mere." She tapped his hand adorably, then waved for him to follow her around her front counter.
"I can go back there? That's employees only, isn't it?" She gave him a flat look. "No, I know. That was a bad one."
Sarah giggled. And then she opened the center drawer beside her cash drawer and pulled a manual looking thing out, with the spiral edge and everything. "You're going to make fun of me, but I made this."
Chuck put his hand on it where she plopped it on the counter. "No way. Seriously? You did all this?" He picked it up and flipped through it. It was all typed with bullet points and numbers, even a few little boxes and graphs. "Holy shit, this is impressive."
"Thanks." She ducked her head bashfully. "I've had a lot of jobs ever since I was fifteen and I guess it was my work ethic or my personality, but I was given management positions more often than not. And I know you know how retail and service work is; you've got the rare good manager, but for the most part, they are really bad. Especially when you work for corporate retailers, you get zero guidance. So I finally started working on this to help myself." She poked the manual.
"That is seriously commendable, Sarah. When I had a bad manager at the Buy More when I was Nerd Herd supervisor, my coping mechanism was to go home to Ellie and whine." He grinned at her as she laughed. "Is, uh, this your way of saying you might be able to help me improve my managerial skills?" She didn't seem to know how to respond to that. "Can you believe I was running a huge corporation for, like, a whole year?"
She rolled her eyes at him and snorted. "I never once said you're a terrible manager. And I'm sure being CEO of a corporation is very different from being manager at a retail shop."
"Well, I haven't siphoned a huge chunk of Volkoff Industries' profits and wasted them on a rocket millionaires can pay me to take them into space. At least, not yet." He lifted his pointer finger and fluttered his eyelashes, making her chuckle. "But I see your point." He wrinkled his nose sheepishly. "I sort of gave you a hard time about your kids books section. I got a little, erm…presumptuous, even. Like I know better."
"Hey, it wasn't…I mean, your approach wasn't…great…at the time." She shrugged one shoulder. "But I've taken it to heart, I've been reading more kids books, and I think the section is slowly getting better."
Chuck beamed at her. "Seriously? Well, that makes me feel pretty good."
"You should. You were very helpful. And now maybe I might be able to help you…?"
"You're a manager's manager, Sarah Walker." He leaned in closer to her and maybe he was just imagining the pink in her cheeks, the air sparking between them… "Shower me with your wisdom."
Sarah let out a one note giggle. "You really love your awkward little 'shower' quips, don't you?"
Chuck groaned out a chuckle, crumbling forward and burying his face in his arms that he propped on her counter. He heard her let out a bubbly giggle and he felt her drape herself over his back in an endearing gentle hug.
"Awww, I'm just teasing. It's cute, I promise."
"Cute?" he asked, muffled. He picked up his chin and propped it on his forearm, straining his neck to glance back at her. "Gee golly, thanks."
She giggled again and he felt one hand move to his shoulder, the other sliding around his right flank, and she gave one quick squeeze that sent a fantastic shiver through him.
They both straightened to their full height as one, and he turned to peer down into her face. She shifted her weight and slowly let her hand fall from his chest to her side.
"You seem like the kind of boss everybody loves working for because you're kind and thoughtful, everybody's pal…" She shook her head. "That isn't a bad thing, Chuck. Ashcan's atmosphere is clearly comfortable, laidback, chill…it has to be balanced with professionalism, though. And it sounds like this thing with Morgan and Anna has become…um, less than professional if it makes your other employees feel uncomfortable. You gotta talk to them, tell them to tone it down at work. They can be weirdos out there." She pointed outside. "But in the store? They need to chill."
Chuck nodded. Then he narrowed his eyes and pulled his lips between his teeth, bending his knees. "Do you think you can tell 'em?" Her jaw fell open and he giggled boyishly. "I'm just kiddin'. You're right. Totally. I need to manager up."
"Yeah. Manager up, damn it." She thumped his chest. And then she grinned.
He grinned back, drowning in the warmth between them.
A/N: YEAH, CHUCK. MANAGER UP. I challenge anyone who loves and knows canon Sarah Walker and thinks she wouldn't have a whole-ass binder for any job she'd have that isn't a spy or with the CIA. She'd have Plans A, B, C, D, and E... with bullet points and charts and graphs. Because NOBODY is gonna catch her flat-footed, not in any aspect of her life, damn it.
Thanks for reading. Please review if you can.
-SC