The Great Nerf War

A/N: The war…it begins.Disclaimer: I don’t own Chuck

She was ready. She had timed what time he left his apartment and was prepared. Her door was unlocked, her hand on her doorknob, and she was holding the gun in her other hand.

She had never seen him carry his own Nerf gun, but she was ready, just in case. She looked out the peep hole, knowing he should be coming out any second.

She saw him exit, his headphones in, him moving his head to the music. Again, either the greatest spy ever, or a civilian.

He walked away from his apartment and she slowly opened her door. He never made any move like he heard her as he continued to walk away. She stood in the middle of the hallway.

She had thought about this all night, and she knew what she had to do to truly spring this trap…if it was a trap.

“Chuck!” she said loudly.

She saw him stop, and turn. She pulled the trigger.

He never had time to move. The Nerf bullet him him directly between the eyes on his forehead.

She had prepared for a hundred reactions. But this one….it disarmed her.

First, came recognition. That she had expected.

Second…..came joy. Pure joy spread across his face. He smiled. And not a fake smile. No, this was from his heart. At this moment, she knew he had truly been worried she didn’t like him. Who cared if someone across the hall from you liked you or not?

Apparently Chuck Bartowski.

“Y-you…you know what this means, right?” he finally asked.

The smile was so infectious, the joy was so radiating, that she couldn’t stop herself.

“Do you?” she replied, and pulled the trigger again, and hit him in the exact same place.

“Okay,” he said, throwing his hands up. “You wouldn’t hit a defenseless,” she shot him again. “Nerd…I guess you would.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. She studied him a second. “Sarah.”

“What?” he asked, confused.“Sarah Walker,” she told him. “That’s my name. Since I’m going to be shooting you constantly with Nerf bullets, you should know it.”

“You don’t know that you-” She shot him again. He finally dove behind the corner of the wall. “Can we talk a second?”“Sure,” Sarah said. He stuck his head out and she shot him again.

And then, she was truly disarmed.He laughed. “Okay, I asked for this. Apparently I have challenged a word famous marksman..I mean markswoman.” He was silent a second. “Sorry about that, just used to saying…you know what I’m just gonna shut up.”He had moved a bit away from the wall. He hadn’t even noticed he had done so. She hit him in the back of the leg. “Wow! Okay. So, you weren’t mad at me, you just didn’t want to shoot me three hundred times to zero, is that what I’m learning?”

“You have to admit it was weird,” Sarah said, waiting for him to stick his head around the corner, knowing he would do so, after what he just said. He did, and she put this one into his hair.

“That’s impressive,” he said, diving back around the corner. “As fun as this is, I have to go to work.” He paused. “Oh crap, I should have kept my mouth shut and just gone.”

She began to walk forward as he scurried to the elevator. He ran past it and into the stairwell. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, as she entered the stair well, and got off numerous shots, hitting him every time, all while he laughed.“I will get you!” he promised.

“No you won’t,” she said.

He stepped into the open and looked up at her. “I will, Sarah Walker.”The way he said her name did something to her insides. She pulled the trigger, but he had already begun to move and she missed.“Missed me!” he yelled gleefully as he ran out the door.

She stood there a moment, and found herself wondering when she had more fun.

}o{

It was the next afternoon, and she stopped at the park before she got to her apartment building. The first afternoon, when he came home, he sounded like a pack of wildebeests trying to sneak up on her. She hit him five times to his one shot he got off. He missed wildly.

The next morning she didn’t hit him because she was too busy laughing. He came out of his apartment with a giant tote lid in front of him as a shield. She found herself doing something she had never done before. She laughed. And not just a one note laugh.

This laugh had built up inside of her and had apparently been in there for years. Just multiplying. Her hands were on her knees. He threw the lid back into the apartment, and scurried to the staircase. He paused at the door. “Didn’t hit me, Sarah Walker.”

“You didn’t hit me either,” she told him.

“But, you didn’t hit me,” he said like he had won something, and they both knew he had.

“Hey,” she heard a voice call from far away. His hands were up in the air as she turned and saw him. She had drawn her Nerf gun, ready to go into the apartment and get in a few shots. “You cannot shoot outside of the building. I know I never said so earlier, but that’s a rule.”She had known it was a rule. And so had he. How?

She aimed the gun at him. “How do you know I’m a rule follower?”

He squinted his eyes at her, and then lowered his hands. “I just do.”

“I really should shoot you,” she told him.

“You should,” he agreed. “What if I buy you ice cream instead?” he asked, and pointed toward the vendor.

She paused. This would be a great way to get info out of him. “Okay, but you’re getting me two scoops for not properly explaining the rules.”

“See, total rule follower,” Chuck said with a grin. She couldn’t help herself, she shot him in the backside as he turned and he yelped in surprise.

The smile on his face was so genuine that she found herself totally disarmed.

}o{

“Rocky Road, huh,” he said, as the two sat on a bench, looking out over the park.

She liked where they were. It was public. It was in the open. She had great site lines.

She also found she liked sitting next to the guy beside her.

That bothered her.

Not enough to do anything with. If he was a spy, that had to be his main weapon.

His charisma. God, he was charming, and his smile…

She needed to get a hold of herself.

“What can I say, I’ve burnt of a lot of calories having to be very precise with my aiming,” she said with a shrug. He grinned at that.

This was what bothered her. A woman was beating this tall, lanky man constantly in a game he challenged her in. Not only was it not bothering him, he seemed to be loving every second of it.

“Maybe I should get three scoops,” he began and then he paused. “I was going to say because I’ve been dodging your very precise aiming but I really haven’t, have I?”

She snorted. Oh, God. She looked mortified. Not because she snorted in front of him, just because…she didn’t even know she did that.

“I mean you didn’t have to agree like that,” he muttered, but the grin on his face showed it didn’t upset him at all.

“So, what made you decide to give someone you don’t know a Nerf gun?” Sarah asked.

“I was at Stanford,” he began.

“Oooo,” she said, trying to sound impressed.

He waved it off, grinning. “Anyway, when I moved into the frat-”

“No, offense, but you don’t look like a frat guy,” Sarah said. She hadn’t mean to say that. It had just slipped out. She was glad she hadn’t said what was in her head. “Not like Bryce.” Thank GOD she hadn’t said that.

“None taken,” he replied, grinning. “Anyway, I wasn’t like most of the guys in the frat. I was…I’m a nerd.”

“And they weren’t?” Sarah asked.

“They were, but….” He paused.

“Oh,” Sarah said, nodding. “Go to college and try and be someone you’re not.” She tried to say it casually, but it was exactly what she had done.

She had gone. And there, she was required to build a legend of Sarah Walker. Someone she was not.

She tried, she really did, but she still found herself studying languages and becoming intrigued with how people communicated.

Her entire life…her father…the CIA…they wanted her to bottle up feelings, and actual words. Speak, but don’t say anything.At Harvard, she was allowed to study different languages. She found a beauty in interpreting not just from the words that were said, but the context, the body language, and other non-verbal cues.

The non-verbal cues she had been taught her whole life. First by her father, and then by the CIA.

The non-verbal cues being given off by Chuck screamed one thing. This man. He was a civilian. He held in nothing when he talked. He gesticulated, almost wildly, and she found it so refreshing. He was so honest. So…open.

“Yeah,” Chuck said nodding. “And, this may shock you, but I don’t seem to have that ability.”

She heard that weird sound come out of her again. Dear, God. Another snort?!?

“I’m glad someone is enjoying this,” he said, teasing.

“Sorry,” Sarah said. Inside, she was thinking that not only did he not have the ability, that she was glad he didn’t.

That bothered her.But not that much.And that bothered her even more.

“So, the president of the frat came up with The Great Nerf War,” he told her. “It was a way for you to get to know your next door neighbor. To cut through a lot of the…” he paused, looking for the word.

“Awkwardness,” Sarah offered.He snapped his fingers. “That’s it!”

She knew that word because that was exactly how Bryce had described it to her.She looked at him. Really looked.

The openness on his face. He seemed happy, but there was something. Something deep inside.

“So, did it work?” she asked.“Yeah, I met my across the hall neighbor that way,” Chuck told her. “Bryce.”

“Bryce?” Sarah asked.

“Bryce Larkin, and we became…” he paused and she saw the hurt. “We became best friends.”

There was a silence between them.

She did not want to ask the next question.

She knew either answer would hurt. But the thing was, one answer would hurt her, and one would hurt him.

She was stunned to find she hoped his answer hurt her.

“You two still friends?” she asked.

“No,” he said, shaking his head, looking away. “You know, after college…things….”

He trailed off and refused to look in her direction. He didn’t need to. She knew what was radiating off of him. “Yeah, I get it,” Sarah said. “Same thing happened to me.”

He turned to her, and she could see from the look on his face that while he appreciated what she thought she knew, it was obvious she didn’t know.

And now, she wanted to.

No, she needed to.But, it wasn’t hers.

In the past, she knew what she could do to find out, but now…now she didn’t want to.

She didn’t want to take that from him.It was his.It was his grief and it was his. She didn’t like he was carrying it alone, but….that was his right.

For the first time since she left the CIA she felt like she had made a huge decision that a civilian would make, and not one a CIA officer would make.

“So, thanks for joining me for ice cream,” he said, slapping his hands on his knees, going to stand.Part of her wanted to reach over and hold his hand and comfort him. She didn’t. He didn’t need her in his life like that. What she could do was be a good Nerf war partner and show him it wasn’t him. It was Bryce.

“Thanks for buying and letting me have target practice,” she replied.

The grin came back to his face. “Hey, for the night…” he trailed off.

“We can cool it for tonight,” she replied.

“Thanks, Sarah,” he said, and headed down the path to the apartment building.

She didn’t know what possessed her to call out.

“Chuck.” He turned. “In the morning.” He grinned as she lifted her right hand, mimicking a gun and squinting.

“I’ll be waiting for you Tex,” he replied.

“Tex?!?” He shrugged as he began to walk backwards. He waved, turned, and headed to the building.

She pulled out her phone and decided it was time to text a number she swore she never would from her personal phone because that meant they were more than just work friends.

Cancel everything. He’s just a regular guy.

She hit send. She sat there, looking out over the park. Her phone went off. She rolled her eyes, took a deep breath and looked down.

Two eyeballs looking away were on her text messages. The phone went off again.

Guuurrrrrlllll

Sarah snorted again.

She shook her head.

Then the phone went off again, and the smile fell off her face.Carina had sent an eggplant emoji, a peach emoji, and water emoji.

Now who’s rude? Sarah texted back.

The reply made her laugh. Never said I wasn’t.

Sarah sat there. She wanted to know what happened to Chuck. But that was Chuck’s story. A story he should tell someone close.

So why was she wishing he would tell her?

A/N: Next time

“So, that’s tall and lanky, huh?” came the voice of her friend.“What are you doing here?” Sarah asked.

She did not need this right now. She wasn’t sure when she ever really needed it, but right now? No. Not at all.

“Rude,” Carina said. “Have you thought any more about me being your emergency contact?”

“No,” Sarah said.

“Have you thought about why you don’t want to know anything else about tall, pale-ish, and Chuckles?” Carina continued. Sarah crossed her arms, refusing to answer.

“That move in itself is an answer,” Carina told Sarah.Sarah sighed. It was going to be a looooongggg night.