Chapter 16
A/N: Excuse me, do you know where you are? It’s the Chuck AU I have dubbed the Mollyverse, or the Molly Zone. In this world, Sarah ended up adopting Molly and killing Ryker. Chuck, not only didn’t meet Sarah, he didn’t become the intersect and he became the closed up one, and Sarah became the open one. There is tragedy in this universe, Awesome and Ellie died, and Chuck is raising Clara.
You’ve been warned, get out now, because there is serious fluff, sweetness, and all around general insanity. You’re still here? You can’t say I didn’t warn you, Ch 15, Stay on Target. And I’d like to tell you I’m really sorry the way this chapter ends, but I’m not…I’m so not. (rubs hands together evily). Oh, sorry it’s a little short, but it needed to end there…because I’m evil…
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, or Put A Little Love in Your Heart, but I listen/watch both of them, frequently.
“I must say, since I known you, I’ve made more plans that I haven’t kept,” Sarah groused.
“Yep,” Chuck said, from behind the computer towers. “That’s the disadvantages of dating people with kids, real jobs, and life in general.”
“You know some people would get their feelings hurt over it,” Sarah replied. “But if you’re open and talk about things instead of hiding it, and had a shred of understanding, you’d realize sometimes things happen.”
“You mean like our first weekend, our date we still technically haven’t gone on, or the lunches I’m supposed to take you on this week?” Chuck asked.
“Yep,” Sarah replied. “But that’s the life we live, could you imagine if we had to keep things from each other like when I was in the CIA?”
“It must have been a hard life,” Morgan said, not trying to listen in, but had no choice being within five feet of them working. “Your personal life must not have been very…satisfying?”
“You could say that again,” Sarah said. “But now if something comes up, I just talk to my partner, friend, fiancé, whatever term applies to Chuck at that moment, and we adjust.”
“I’ll take all of the above, Alex,” Chuck said, drawing a laugh out of Sarah. “I guess this is your way of saying we’re not going car shopping today?”
“Well, this is more important and time sensitive than the car,” Sarah responded.
“Ouch!” Chuck yelled.
“Sharp edge?” Morgan asked.
“Yep,” Chuck responded. Sarah blew a breath out of her bottom lip, straight up, trying to get the stray lock of hair out of her face. She saw Chuck sit up from behind the tower, massaging his hand, grinning at her.
“I guess it should have occurred to me that you would have multiple computer banks to set up for your gaming company,” Sarah admitted. She turned to Morgan. “Seriously, I’m glad you caught this and corrected it before I made a major mistake.” Morgan blushed, grinned, and waved off the compliment. Sarah grinned at the bearded man, and grabbed him in a bear hug. “I never said it, but I’m glad you’re here. You’re a huge part of all of this.”
“Logistics is kinda of his thing,” Chuck added, happily taking in two of his favorite people in the world getting along so well. “Well, that and cheap meals.”
“Hey, if it wasn’t for that skill, we might have gone out of business long ago,” Morgan said. Chuck pointed to him and nodded in appreciation.
“I’m done over here, ready to fire it up?” Chuck asked. Morgan grinned and went over to a group of switches they had built to power everything up.
He flipped the first switch. “Do,” Morgan sang.
Morgan flipped the second, “Ray,” Chuck sang.
Morgan grinned, and flipped the third switch, and they both turned to Sarah, expectantly.
“Mi?” she sang. Both guys sighed and look disappointed.
“Ghostbusters marathon?” Morgan asked.
“Yep,” Chuck replied, walking over and putting his arm over the confused Sarah. “I mean you just can’t expect someone to know to sing Egon there.”
“I told you, it’s because you’re just an asset to her,” Bryce said walking in.
“Oh look, it’s the best friend that stole your girlfriend, Chuck,” Morgan said.
“Apparently, he did me a favor,” Chuck retorted. Sarah was fighting a grin.
“I am standing right here,” Bryce fired back.
“Well why don’t you go stand in the middle of the road,” Morgan said, walking up towards Bryce. Chuck walked over, and pulled Morgan away.
“All those computers you’re drooling over,” Chuck said, making Morgan look away from Bryce to him. “Means we have to help him.” Morgan thought for a second.
“Do I have to enjoy it?” he asked, seriously.
“No,” Chuck replied.
“I feel dirty, but I’ll do it,” Morgan said.
“We don’t really need you,” Bryce said. Chuck whirled on Bryce.
“Yes you do, because without him, there’s no me,” Chuck said.
“Or me,” Sarah said, standing beside Morgan, crossing her arms as if to dare Bryce. Bryce put his hands up in mock surrender.
“Fine, figure out another way in to that door,” Bryce said. Chuck turned to Sarah and grinned.
“What, you can’t seduce her?” Sarah asked, grinning.
“You know what he’s about to say,” Chuck said to Sarah. She turned to Chuck, effectively ignoring Bryce. “She’s not into men.”
“She’s lucky they sent Bryce and not you,” Sarah said. “You’d have her up in her room in ten minutes telling you every secret ever.”
“See, this is what I mean, Chuck,” Bryce insisted. “She is using you. She’s using your skills to save her company and then she’s going to going to dump you and leave you in a sadder shape than Jill ever did.”
“You know what, Bryce. I don’t believe it for a second, but even if she did, totally worth it,” Chuck retorted holding his hand up toward Sarah. Sarah couldn’t help herself and high-fived him.
“Really, Chuck,” Bryce said. “My leftovers.” Sarah grabbed Chuck before he could attack him. “No, not like this,” she whispered. “Get him where it hurts.” Chuck stared at Bryce.
“Bryce this is what you don’t get. We know how we feel. Most people know, deep down how they feel, or they have feelings that they can’t figure out what they mean. Those feelings grow, but it’s love. Society says how fast or slow people should move, but we’ve never been real good at listening to society,” he said, pointing to Sarah and himself. “We are going to get married, and one day, you’re going to realize it’s not a cover, or a way for her to maintain her asset, or a honeypot or honeytrap or whatever it is you’re thinking. It’s real.” Sarah stared at Chuck. She thought about knocking Bryce out, throwing Morgan out of the room, and tackling him right there.
“You’re gonna get hurt so bad,” Bryce said, shaking his head. Chuck had had enough.
“You try and get through that door. I guarantee you we’ll have that computer info before you ever get through that door,” Chuck said.
“Fine,” Bryce said turning to leave. “I’m just trying to save you, Chuck.”
“Again, it is my life,” Chuck replied. “You don’t get to make decisions for me.” Bryce threw his hands up, and left.
“What do we do?” Morgan asked, seriously wanting to tackle Bryce, rip his leg off, and beat him with it. Sarah’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, I am all in this Charah mission.”
“Go get Casey and Carina,” Sarah said to Morgan. Morgan hurried out of the room to find them. She turned to Chuck. “We go to the restaurant, enter the way Casey and Carina showed us, get that info, shove it in Bryce’s face Friday morning and throw our baby girl a birthday party Friday night.” Chuck’s grin was at full blast, and Sarah wondered how much time they had until Morgan got back.
“Are we going as ourselves, or the Carmichaels?” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Come on, Sarah, let me for once go undercover.” Sarah thought for a second. “How’s your Texas accent,” she asked with a strong one.
“Charles Charles has a fine Texas accent, Ma’am,” Chuck replied in his own accent.
“Charles Charles?” Sarah asked skeptically, dropping the accent.
“We do everything twice as big in Texas,” he said, still in the accent. Sarah laughed, and got very close to him, placing her hand on his chest. “Uh, it’s a shame we don’t have wedding rings.” Sarah looked down at the engagement ring.
“Emma,” she said softly. “She has the rings that go with this engagement ring. We’ll just ask her tonight.” Carina, Casey, and Morgan showed up a few minutes later, and the plan was worked out. Morgan would go with the guys in the van, and Carina and Casey would work as part of the wait staff at the restaurant. The guys would also be providing backup for Bryce if they needed it, at Chuck’s insistence.
“You know, no one would blame you if you left him in the cold,” Casey said.
“I would,” Chuck replied. “Maybe he didn’t do me right, but there’s no reason for me to do him the same.” Casey grunted, proud of Chuck. He and Carina left.
“We have a problem,” Morgan said. Chuck and Sarah turned. “Actual work, problem. We haven’t tested the game yet, and with the shape everything is in here…”
“So, how about you and Molly test the game in my office tonight, and I can do spot corrections if possible?” Chuck offered. Morgan grinned and turned to Sarah.
“How can I turn down you guys trying to make a kids’ game bug free for our company?” she asked, grinning.
“I’ve been thinking,” Chuck began. “How about we turn one of those downstairs room into a gym for you.” Sarah launched herself into Chuck’s arms. “So that’s a no?” Sarah grinned at him.
}o{
“So, tomorrow can we sneak away and go car shopping?” Sarah asked when Chuck finally slid into bed. The game had been nearly bug free, and what few problems there were took minimal time to fix. Morgan and Molly had a blast with the game, and Chuck asked both of them questions about what they liked, and what they’d like to see different. Some things he could add on the spot, some just weren’t possible, but he made notes to add them to future games or even possible updates. He was still up in the air about that one, given how much some of the addons of games cost.
“We’re the owners…” he began. “Who are the owners?” Chuck asked, realizing he had no idea what he owned in the whole merger.
“We all own 1/6th,” Sarah answered. “Me, you, Casey, Carina, Morgan, and Alex.”
“Good, Alex does so much, she deserves to be part of this,” Chuck said, nodding.
“I’m sorry, I had talked to everyone about the plan, and kept meaning to talk to you whenever I had a chance here, and well…”
“Kids, therapists, projectile-vomiting, cabal meetings to see you and I married, and Molly,” Chuck offered. Sarah lay her head on Chuck’s chest.
“Hard to believe how short a time I’ve actually known you,” she said. “It’s like I’ve known you forever.”
“It’s just my nerdish charm that is unavoidable,” Chuck replied.
“I was thinking it was in spite of it,” Sarah replied, grinning.
“Ha!” he answered. They lay there quietly, both content, exhausted after moving all day, and sleep took them.
}o{
“Emma,” Chuck greeted her as she came down for breakfast the next morning. “I was told there were wedding rings that I should ask you for.” Emma’s eyes got real big and she shot up the stairs, stopped when she saw Sarah, hugged her, and continued on. Sarah looked at Chuck suspiciously. “Maybe I should have phrased that differently,” he muttered to himself.
“MOMMY!! DADDY!!” Molly screamed from upstairs. Chuck groaned. Sarah laughed to herself. She didn’t know what had happened, but this ought to be good. Molly came flying down the steps, and crashed into Sarah, hugging her. She let go, and flew to Chuck, hugging him. “I’m so happy!”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” Chuck said, gently trying to pry Molly off of him, without upsetting her. “Your mother and I are going to pose as a married couple for a little mission, and that’s why we need the rings.” Chuck happened to see Sarah roll her eyes and start back upstairs to talk to Emma.
“You’ll have the rings?” Molly asked. Chuck nodded. “THEN MARRY HER!” she yelled while whispering.
“But if I take her to get married, you won’t be there,” Chuck answered.
“Just get married!” she said. Sarah came downstairs, trying to give Chuck a pointed look, but couldn’t help grinning.
“You’ve caused an uproar this morning,” she said accusingly, but smiling. Chuck grinned at her.
“I just did what you told me to,” he replied. Emma came downstairs with Clara.
“I don’t want them back,” she said pointedly. Chuck looked at Sarah.
“I guess we have our orders,” Chuck said. “You three ready to go?”
“I’m going to take the girls today so you two can get to the dealership,” Emma said.
“You sure?” Sarah asked. Emma nodded. Sarah grinned, and grabbed Chuck before anyone could change their mind. “Come on, let’s go get this vehicle before something else happens.”
“But I wasn’t done with my breakfast!” Chuck protested. Sarah stopped and gave him a kiss that made Chuck forget his name.
“Not hungry,” he said zombie-like after she let him go. She pulled him out the door. Emma stood there and looked at Molly.
“It’s time,” Molly said. Emma nodded and pulled out her cellphone.
}o{
“Yes,” Chuck said into the phone. “That’s the dealership we’re at. Do you need anything?”
“Nope,” Morgan answered. “I just wanted to make sure everything is okay, Buddy. Everything is okay, right? Nothing life changing that you would do without telling me, right?”
“Morgan, Sarah and I are buying a vehicle together,” Chuck answered. “In a few days I’m putting her name on the deed to the house, you can’t get much more life changing than that.”
“I mean, there is the wedding.”
“I know you want a big wedding, Morgan,” Chuck answered rolling his eyes. Sarah was trying to hold in the laugher. She was test driving the SUV and she loved it. It was roomy, got great gas millage, and there was room for four kids and three adults in it. She smiled as she looked at Chuck and thought about that last part.
“Seriously, would you be mad or happy for me if we ran off and got married?” Chuck asked.
“I’d be happy for you, but it is required as your best friend for you to have a ceremony for the rest of us to be there,” Morgan replied. Chuck pulled the phone away from his face, and just looked at it.
“Seriously, you’d be okay with that?” Chuck asked, shocked. Sarah’s mind was spinning, and she noticed her stomach doing flops. She wanted to be married to Chuck, why was this happening to her? What was happening? “Okay, buddy, I promise if we go any other dealership I’ll call you, but I kinda doubt it, Sarah really likes this one. Gotta go, bye.”
“So you have permission to elope with me from Morgan,” Sarah said, grinning.
“I would say you have been properly vetted and cleared,” Chuck replied.
“It’s a shame they take care of that stuff at the courthouse for you and your vehicle,” Sarah said. “We could kill two birds with one stone.”
“Yeah, between Morgan and Molly signing off, it’s almost like the universe is trying to tell us something,” Chuck said grinning.
“Don’t forget Emma,” Sarah added. “She all but told me to drag you down there today.”
“You sure do drag me a lot, I’ve noticed.”
“Have a problem with that, Bartowski?”
“Nope, your surprisingly gentle when you do it,” Chuck said flippantly. Sarah burst out laughing.
“I’m going to try backing this in,” she said. “I want to try out this back up camera. I’m going to park it right past that Crown Vic. Casey would love that one.” Chuck stared at it.
“It looks a lot like Casey’s,” Chuck said. Sarah began to back up, and they both noticed the lines on the camera. As they started to go back, Chuck couldn’t help himself.
“Stay on target,” they both said together. Sarah stopped the car, looked at him and grinned smugly.
“You are so lucky they take care of the paperwork and we aren’t going to the courthouse.”
“You’d drag me?” she asked, an eyebrow raised.
“No, I’d give you the Bartowski eyebrow dance, and then you’d drag me.”
“Careful, Chuck, the way I’m feeling, you pull that out, I may just drive there regardless,” Sarah replied. Chuck waggled his eyebrows. “That’s it! Let’s go buy this vehicle and I’m taking you to the courthouse.” Both were laughing as they went inside,
They talked to the salesman, who seemed a little bothered, and eventually a manager came over.
“I’m so sorry,” he began. “We can’t do any of the paperwork today. If you were to buy the vehicle, you’d have to take it to the courthouse,” he said. Sarah and Chuck shared a look, both of them looking a little pale. Chuck looked over at the SUV and noticed the Crown Vic was gone.
“What would we need to do?” Chuck asked, trying to keep his voice from squeaking, afraid to look at Sarah’s face.
“It’s quite simple, we’ll prepare everything, you just take it to the courthouse,” the manager replied. “When you go in, it’s on your left. You obviously know where the wedding licenses are.”
“We do?” Sarah asked, her voice a hair high.
“I’m sorry,” the manager replied. “I assumed…I shouldn’t have, you two just seem like you were married. So, when you go in, it’s on your left, and if you hit the wedding license, you’ve gone too far.”
“So either get married and come back and take care of the car, or go do it after,” the salesman said, trying to joke. Chuck and Sarah forced out laughs. They glanced at each other. They saw what was in the other’s eyes, and quickly turned back to the manager and the salesman. A half-hour later, they walked out of the dealership, into their new SUV.
“So,” Chuck began, trying to keep the air light. “On to the courthouse, and whatever other adventure we may find there.” Sarah turned to look at him. They held a look for a few seconds. She nodded, started the car, and took off, neither noticing the Crown Vic, tailing them.
}o{
They walked into the courthouse, Sarah’s stomach doing flips, Chuck’s hands sweating. They headed to take care of the car taxes and title, when they both saw the sign down the hall for wedding licenses. Chuck tried to pry his eyes off of the sign. He noticed a small commotion in the room, but the line to the taxes moved, and he had to move forward. A tall bulky man in a trench coat, sunglasses, and a hat passed them, not making eye contact. Chuck thought it was a little suspicious given it was rather warm outside.
“Sarah, doesn’t he look strange?” Chuck asked.
“Who?” Sarah asked.
“You’re not noticing people? What is wrong?” Chuck asked, becoming concerned.
“I’m just thinking,” she said softly.
“About the room at the end of the hall?” he asked. Sarah nodded.
“I mean, we’ve got so much going on, and it will take forever to have an actual wedding, but we could just go down there, get married, and have a ceremony later,” she said.
“I’ve kinda been thinking the same thing,” he said softly. Their eyes met. “It’s an awfully big decision.” Sarah nodded. The line moved, and they took care of the taxes and tags for the vehicle. They both came out of the office, looking down the hall. They both paused, and at the same time they both reached out their hand to stop the other from walking. Their hands met and they both looked at each other. They both had indescribable looks on their faces. Chuck looked Sarah right in the eyes.
“Don’t freak out,” he said softly.
A/N: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
See you soon!
DC