The Love Boat

A/N: Is the captain of this boat named Stubing? Are you old enough to get that joke? If so you should probably have had a colonoscopy by now….or two…

Disclaimer: I don’t own Chuck

“We can’t stay in this cabin forever,” Sarah told him the next day. The two had spent the previous day teasing each other…well, let’s be honest, it was more ninety/ten teasing in one person’s favor than the other. They were also studying pictures of the seven men and Chuck finding out everything about them. During this time, Chuck told Sarah about his fascination with fish, told her he had named the bird Edward because, while it was opinionated, it seemed to do so respectfully, and told her about his childhood and Ellie raising him.

“And while it is good for the cover for us to be in here, there are two downsides. One, we’re always on the defensive with these men; we need to figure out what they’re going to do and understand their plan.” Chuck nodded, thinking that was an excellent point. “And two, and probably the more important of the two, you might make a bad choice.” His eyes went wide, and she held up her hand so she could finish.

“Chuck, we’re in an enclosed space. There is nowhere for this to breathe. I’m not saying you’ll make a choice based on your libido, but IF you make a choice now, you will honor that choice regardless of how things go. That’s who you are,” she finished.

“You’re protecting me,” Chuck said softly.

She nodded.

“I’m trying to protect you,” she admitted.

“I know.”

“From me.”

Chuck reached for her hand.

“You don’t have to.”

“I do.”

“Why?”

She looked at him.

“Because I’ve never had someone I wanted to protect from myself.”

Chuck smiled softly.

“Then we’re both learning.”

Sarah squeezed his hand.

“Together.”

“Together.”

“You know that is affecting my choice?” She tilted her head, confused.

“You protecting me is showing me why I should choose what I’ve already chosen.”

She tilted her head the other way and gave him a look. He swallowed. “Fine, you want me to be sure.” She nodded. “As you wish.”

“Oh, we need to get out of here right now,” she said, an angry look on her face, but it wasn’t anger at him. Chuck knew that and couldn’t stop the smile. She looked back at him with a look that read, “How damn dare you.” What he didn’t know was she was being assaulted by an eight-year-old. He saw her calculate something, and then, with a smile that was aimed at him, that had a touch of…dare he say, evil? In it….she spoke. “I will never doubt again.”

He stared at her, swallowed, and replied. “There will never be a need.” She nodded, turned, and walked out.

“I felt like she just said, ‘To the pain,’ to me,” he muttered. “I don’t know how I lost that, but I know I did.” He realized Edward wasn’t there to listen to him, shook his head, and walked out.

}o{

It was mere moments later that he found out exactly how he had lost. “Sarah, I am not that type of husband,” he said in a strained voice. She lifted her head from the article of clothing she was looking at. He swore he saw a halo over her head, pure innocence on her face, and possibly heard a chorus of angels singing. “There…there isn’t a lot of material to that….”

“Bikini,” Sarah said, looking back at the blue…tiny piece of fabric in her hand.

“Bikini,” Chuck agreed, nodding, and looking like he was melting on the inside. “I worry about you being burned…the back….it doesn’t cover….much.”

The smile seemed to increase, the halo brighten, the innocence get even more innocent, and the angels sang louder. “Luckily I have my husband here to make sure I’m lathered in suntan lotion.”

He tried to speak. A noise came out. What word it actually was, who knew?

“Now, when you apply it, I need you to be very….very…thorough.”

A choking sound came out this time.

“You wouldn’t want me to burn would you?” He managed to shake his head no, and then somehow gained control of his faculties.

“This is breathing?” he said in a strained voice.

“We’re in an open space, not forced together in close quarters,” she said, stepping towards him. Her voice was already low, but she leaned towards his ear with a smile on her face that Chuck could only describe as…naughty. “Plus, Ralph is across the room, watching everyone. He’s not paying any more attention to us than he is anyone else.” She leaned back, a proud smile on her face.

Then, he shocked her.

In the best way. He reached over to the fabric of the garment and felt it with his fingers. “Soft, feels comfortable,” he said in a low voice. He lifted it near her face, her eyes going wide. “I love how it’s very similar to the color of your eyes. Of course, it can’t be. Your eyes have this…I want to call it a flash, but it’s not the right word. All I know is when you get excited, and God, do I love seeing you excited.”

He had paused. On purpose. It was at that moment she realized she was holding her breath.

She wasn’t sure if it was because of what he was saying, that she didn’t want to breathe in case she missed what he said, or because eight year-old her was screaming into her ear.

KISS HIM!

His left thumb caressed her right cheek. Years of training were the only reason her knee didn’t buckle. “I would get lost in your eyes seeing you…excited.”

“Chuck,” she managed to get out. “When you say…excited….”

“Be sure,” he told her. And with that, he stepped away and walked over to some tops she had been looking at earlier. “What about this? Do you like this pattern?”

Sarah stared at him.

He had walked away.

Just walked away.

She looked down at the bikini.

Then toward Chuck.

He was casually looking through the shirts.

She narrowed her eyes.

“That’s not fair.”

He looked over. “What?”

“You know exactly what you did.”

A small smile appeared.

“Maybe.”

Sarah shook her head.

“I’m going to enjoy getting even.”

“I was counting on that.”

“To the pain, Bartowski,” she muttered.

“Inconceivable,” he replied in the same low tone. He looked over to where Ralph was. Past him was a sandwich shop. “I’ve been wanting to try that place.”

“We should try it,” Sarah told him.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Her jaw twitched, but she held in the laugh. She stepped up to him. “Let me explain… No, there is too much. Let me sum up,” she said softly. He grinned. “I love you. Okay? Want it louder? I LOVE YOU. Spell it out, should I? I ell-oh-vee-ee why-oh-you. Want it backward? You love I.”

There was no sound from eight year-old her. She had passed out with joy.

Sarah looked at him for a long moment.

There was no teasing left in her expression.

No game.

Just Sarah.

“I don't think you understand what you've done to me.”

Chuck's smile faded.

“What?”

“You made this easy.”

He looked confused.

“How?”

She reached for his hand.

“Choosing you.”

He squeezed her hand.

“Good.” Sarah smiled.

Sarah looked him right in the eye. “Where ever you go…I go.”

“No,” Chuck said. “You already know that I have a shy bladder.”

She burst out in laughter.

}o{

Now

“These seven we have in custody,” Graham began. “Agent, you…you are one of the best, but..” He looked from Sarah to Chuck. “He’s a civilian.” Chuck nodded. “How?”

Sarah grinned. “I had a wheelbarrow.”

Chuck smiled as Graham looked more confused than ever.

A/N: You know for five months I had been mostly dead inside. The good news, I wasn’t all dead. Thank you all for hanging with me. Love ya.