Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

He heard voices… three of them.

They were low, but rumbling.

The pillow he was lying on might have been the most comfortable thing he had ever slept on his life. It was firm, yet perfectly soft. He was sure that it wasn't possible, yet that's what was happening. His mind told him he should be cold, yet he wasn't. The temperature felt perfect. He wasn't sure what was in his curls, but it felt comforting, and he thought he might drift back to sleep.

"You two gonna sleep all day?" he heard yelled, loudly. He smacked his lips together, opened his eyes, and jumped back.

"Do I look that bad?" came Sarah's sleepy voice. She grinned at him. "You okay?"

"Did I… did I…" He looked at her and then back at himself. They were both clothed, and it seemed like they had taken two sleeping bags and made one big one out of it.

"Chuck," she said, with an amused sigh. "Remember last night? Rocks flying, you having trouble sleeping, me telling you to sleep with me so that if something happened, I could make sure and keep you quiet so we wouldn't get hurt."

He sat there, remembering how she had in fact quieted him. "When you say keep me quiet?" he asked, trailing off. He couldn't speak, because he saw an amused grin on her face and thought his head and heart might explode.

"Walker!" they heard Casey yell.

"I do need to go help him," Sarah told Chuck. "Can we talk later?"

"Anytime," Chuck told her. Sarah nodded and took off. Chuck blew out a breath, and then realized nature was calling. "This is the part I was not looking forward to," he muttered.

}o{

Chuck went through the gear, making sure everything was working okay. There were three reasons he was doing so: First, and most obvious, was the gear was rather fragile. Drones, cameras, and other electrical equipment could have been damaged during normal transportation. Second, and one he wanted to scoff at but knew of the stories and legends, were electrical equipment always seemed to have issues when crypto species were involved.

The third reason, and perhaps the most important, was to give his hands something to do as he thought about what was happening. There was something there between he and Sarah, but he was also thinking about her in general. She was here, for him. And for him to try and pursue anything… he put down the drone he had been tinkering with, shaking his head. Was it right? Was it right for her to be here for him while he tried to pursue her romantically? How much harder was he making things for her?

"The drone okay?" he heard her ask behind him. He was glad he had set down the drone, because chances were he would have thrown it into the air, and it would have crashed to the ground and shattered into a million pieces.

"Yep," he squeaked, trying to regain his composure.

"Hey, it's okay," Sarah said, thinking he was jumpy because of the rocks-being-thrown situation last night. "So, we've got a lot of stuff here," she began, looking at everything. She wanted to try and take his mind off everything, so she thought she would try to get him to talk about the equipment. "It all looks very science-y." She looked up at him. "What?"

"You have a way with words," Chuck said, chuckling.

She shrugged. "What can I say, I was a linguistics major." She looked at the drone. "So, do you need to have a background in math to understand some of this stuff? And if so, is it like the hardest math, like calculus?"

"Well," he paused, "yes, you need to have a general understanding of math to do some of the programing. But as far as operating it, no. Anyone can fly the drone. Now, would understanding angles, and wind speed and all that help? Sure, just like flying a helicopter, or a plane." Sarah's eyes lit up. "So, you wanna fly my drone?"

"Is that a pickup line?" she asked, straight-faced. Chuck began to panic, and she began to laugh.

"Oh," he said, shaking his head. He gave her a look and then grinned. "You got me there."

"Well, I was just trying to lighten the mood," Sarah told him. "So, you don't need the hardest math, is what you're saying."

"Oh, God no," Chuck told her. "You have no need of toilet paper math."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sarah asked.

"Toilet paper math," Chuck told her. Sarah stared at him. "Oh, come on. You go to a store, and one says one roll is equal to three, and then another says one double roll is equal to 27 normal rolls." Sarah just stood there. "And don't get me started on double plus, mega, and mega plus rolls. Can you just tell me how many damn rolls of toilet paper I'm buying? I can do calculus, but I cannot do toilet paper math."

She shook her head and then burst out laughing. "Chuck, you are something else," she said softly. "Look, about last night-"

"Bartowski!" Casey yelled. The two looked over to find Casey talking to Bill and Fred. "Come over here."

"To be continued," Sarah said softly, where only he could hear.

"Come with me?" he said just as softly. She nodded and started to walk over to the three men with him. Sarah could see concern on all their faces. "Something's wrong," Chuck said, catching her off-guard. "They're worried."

"I think it's more lay of the land, and all the weird stuff," Sarah said, trying to reassure him. "I'm sure they didn't think the forest would be this close."

"Life finds a way," Chuck muttered. Sarah gave him a look. "It's a quote from Jurassic Park. Life always finds a way."

"It does," she murmured. The two walked up to the three men. "What's up?"

"Given the events of last night," Bill said, throwing a side-eye look at Casey, making Casey grunt. "We think it might not be a bad idea to set up some trail cams, and see if we can get any pictures. So, the three of us will set these up-"

"Nope," Sarah said, cutting the three men off. "Chuck is here to do research, and the equipment is for him to set up and use how he sees fit." She felt Chuck staring at her in shock, and… something else she couldn't put her finger on. "He and I will go set up cameras, where he see fit." Bill nodded. "And you three can finish setting up the camp."

"Will you two be okay by yourselves?" Fred asked.

Casey chuckled. "Walker will whip the ass of anything that looks at Bartowski sideways," Casey said. He grinned at her as she shook her head. She turned and headed back to Chuck's equipment. "Got something to say, Bartowski?"

Chuck turned to Bill and Fred. "I appreciate you two coming back," he said sincerely. "I know you have concerns, and I promise I'm not going to do anything to intentionally put anyone in danger."

"We know, kid," Fred said. "It's just we don't know what's out here, and if anything any of us do can put us in danger."

"They're right," Casey said, suddenly serious. "This land…" He looked around. "I don't know what's out here." He paused. "I know what is not out here." Fred and Bill shook their heads. "But it's been uninhabited for years, and there is absolutely no telling what has made this place their home."

"Thank you, Casey," Chuck said, sincerely.

"Just doing my job," Casey said.

"Well, thank you, regardless," Chuck said. With that, he turned and headed back to Sarah.

}o{

The camera cuts to Chuck sitting in the interview area.

"Again, these men had seen some things. And they were all rattled," Chuck began. A grunt was heard off-camera. "We knew we had to be careful, but also… also, I wanted to try and capture actual evidence, or find a scientific reason to explain all the weird things that were happening on that island."

Chuck was quiet for a second. "I just never thought… I just never thought that would happen."

}o{

Chuck was adjusting the strap on the camera when he heard a noise behind him. He turned and saw Sarah, leaning over, making retching sounds. "Are you okay?"

"I just… I just suddenly feel…" She turned and vomited.

"Okay, we gotta get you out of here," Chuck told her.

"Chuck, I need a second," Sarah said.

"No, you don't understand, part of the lore is sometimes people get sick when… he's around," Chuck told her. She stared at him. "Sarah, I'm serious."

"Okay," she said weakly. He walked over and leaned her against him as they headed back to the beach.

}o{

The camera cuts to Chuck sitting in the interview area.

"I couldn't do it," Chuck said. "It was less than twenty-four hours, and she'd had rocks thrown at our building. She was becoming physically ill. I wasn't going to let her get hurt." He sat there a second and then chuckled. "However, I was overruled."

}o{

He got her a bottle of water, and she was swishing it around in her mouth, trying to get rid of the taste. Her color was better, and he asked her if she was okay if he talked to the three guys for a second. She nodded, and he walked over to the men.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked.

"We're leaving," Chuck said. Casey stared at him. "Casey, we've had rocks thrown at us, Sarah is physically ill, and everyone is walking around on eggshells. This is stupid. I'm not doing to this to us."

"Bartowski," Casey said.

"No, you can't talk me out of this," Chuck told him.

"Oh, I wasn't about to," Casey said. He was looking past Chuck's shoulder. Chuck turned around to see Sarah standing there. "But I think perhaps you should have run this plan by her, first."

"I need to start lunch," Fred said, scurrying off.

"I have a latrine to dig," Bill added, heading the other way. Casey looked after Fred, and then Bill and then ran off after Fred.

Chuck stood there, Sarah staring at him. He wasn't sure how to describe the look on her face, but the term that came to mind was more pissed off than a baptized cat.

}o{

The camera cuts to Sarah sitting in the interview area.

She took a deep breath as to calm herself. "I was falling for Chuck, so that was part of it. But if Chuck thought that some hairy bastard that gave me a tummy ache was going to run me off and not give that amazing man a chance to do what he wanted…" She sat back, crossing her arms. "Then he didn't know me very well."

"And now?" Morgan's voice asked off-camera. Sarah didn't answer verbally, but the grin on her face spoke volumes.