Chapter 20
A/N: Again, thank you for the love. I hope you enjoy Ch 19, May Days
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I did perform I’ve Never Seen a Purple Cow,
“You probably shouldn’t play that game, it’s very violent,” Molly said. Chuck just turned and looked at her.
“My former girlfriend and your mother, have teamed up against me,” Chuck answered. “What do you think I should do?”
“Uncle Casey says Johnny Walker Black solves a lot of problems,” Molly answered shrugging. Chuck blinked a few times. “Don’t worry, I haven’t drank any.”
“Does this game bother you?” Chuck asked.
“Nope, it’s a video game. I get why it might some kids, but not me,” she said. Chuck leaned over.
“You terrify me a little,” Chuck whispered. Molly leaned over and grabbed his face with her hands.
“Mommy tells me the same thing,” Molly whispered back.
“That’s kinda impressive, given all she’s done in her life,” Chuck admitted, his face scrunched in her hands.
“Molly, quit scaring your father,” Sarah said, with a smirk on her face walking into the living room. They both watched her walk in and sit in the chair.
“How does she do that?” Molly asked.
“You mean walk in a room, dressed in normal clothes, but take my breath away from being more beautiful on the inside than on the outside, and she’s already gorgeous on the outside? Chuck asked, face still squashed. Molly stared at him.
“What did you do wrong this time?” she asked. Sarah was trying to recover from Chuck’s comment and not laugh all at the same time. Clara got up off the ground, walked over, unsteadily, and tried to squash Molly’s face the same way.
“Why did I have to do something wrong?” Chuck asked. “Or are you trying to get something?”
“You’re the one saying all those nice things,” Molly countered her face squashed as well. Chuck gently did Clara’s face the same as Molly’s and Chuck’s and Clara began to laugh.
“I’m just telling the truth,” Chuck said. “I got lucky enough to marry a real life angel.”
“You definitely did something wrong,” Molly replied.
“Bad Dada!” Clara said. There was a knock on the door at that point.
“Since you three are tied up, I’ll get it,” Sarah said. Chuck heard the door open, and Sarah make a surprised noise. He looked up and saw Bryce come in. Clara took her hands off of Molly, and Chuck took his hands off of Clara’s cheeks.
“Retty man,” she said to her sister.
“If you’re in to that sort of thing,” Molly said to her, letting go of Chuck. Sarah winked at Chuck.
“Wow, Bryce getting shot down by five year olds,” Sarah said.
“I’ll be six soon,” Molly answered, haughtily. Chuck nodded, “there you go” at that one.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Bryce said looking uncertain. “I kinda need some advice.” Chuck gave Bryce a look and nodded to the couch.
“I’m going to take Clara and go play,” Molly announced. She turned to Bryce. “I apologize, you are nice looking, but it takes more than a pretty face to win my love,” and with that, she was gone. Bryce looked over at Chuck, who shrugged. Bryce pointed toward the other controller, Chuck nodded, and the two men played in silence for a few minutes.
“Bryce Larkin, you’re scared,” Sarah said softly after a few minutes. Chuck paused the game and looked over at Bryce who was staring at the floor.
“I’m a spy,” Bryce said quietly. “I do the job, I’m not supposed to have anyone, especially not someone who isn’t a spy.”
“Spies don’t fall in love,” Sarah replied. Bryce nodded. Chuck looked at Sarah his eyebrow furrowed. “Sex, that’s fine, love…that’s bad.” Bryce nodded again.
“So what do you do when you find someone you’re in love with?” Bryce asked.
“You get them away from you,” Sarah answered. “You set them up with someone who’ll take care of them.” Sarah looked at Chuck. Chuck looked over at Bryce in shock.
“What do you do when she’s made your asset?” Bryce asked.
“You get reassigned,” Sarah answered. Bryce shook his head.
“What if you told them you were compromised and your boss doesn’t care?” Bryce asked finally looking at Sarah.
“What exactly did she say?” Sarah asked.
“That I do the job and do not show my feelings,” Bryce answered. “That I do not act on them. Because as long as I do not act, I am not compromised,” he answered. Chuck’s face was hardening.
“Then you don’t have a lot of choice do you,” Sarah said softly.
“How does she feel about it?” Chuck asked, his voice hoarse.
“I have no idea because I’ve never got the chance to find out,” Bryce admitted. Chuck got up and left the room. Bryce looked over at Sarah, who was leaned back in her chair. A grin was covering her face.
“What would you do if you could find out?” Sarah asked. Bryce shrugged.
“I have no idea because I know I’m not allowed so I never thought about it,” he answered honestly. Sarah’s grin broke into a full fledge smile.
“You better figure something out then, because I think you may get your chance,” Sarah said, watching Chuck walk back into the room. He had a determined look on his face. “Have you thought this all the way through?” she asked. He nodded. “Then run with it.”
“You sure?” he asked. “Some of it will affect you.” She stood up, wrapped his arms around him, and kissed him. Colors melted, sounds exploded, the world tilted, and Chuck would have fallen if Sarah hadn’t been holding him. She pulled away grinning at him.
“You still haven’t figured it out yet,” she said softly. “I’m all in. Everything you do affects me, and hopefully everything I do affects you. I trust you in this.”
“AHEM!” came the loud voice from the TV screen. Bryce jumped up, but Chuck looked at the general, leaned down and gave Sarah a peck on the lips. He then looked back up at her.
“Can I help you with something?” Chuck asked. Beckman looked furious.
“Why are all my computers frozen Mr. Bartowski?” Beckman asked in a growl.
“Oh, I did that,” he said, planting another soft kiss on Sarah’s lips. Sarah giggled, knowing they were gonna pay, but she didn’t care.
“BARTOWSKI!” she roared.
“What?” he spat at her with venom. He let Sarah go and walked toward the TV, the general in shock. “Did I inconvenience you? Did I mess up your life? Did I stop you from getting something you wanted done? Did I tell you who you can and cannot love?”
“Now see here-” she began, smoke coming from out of her collar.
“No, you listen,” Chuck said, ignoring her.
“BARTOWSKI!” she screamed. Chuck went over and unplugged the TV. Sarah’s mouth dropped open and Bryce looked like he might faint. He looked over at Sarah.
“The best thing to do when a child throws a temper tantrum is to ignore them,” Chuck said sagely. He calmly plugged the TV back in, went and sat down on the couch. Sarah sat in her chair, Bryce stood there shell shocked. The TV flashed back on and this time she sat there, breathing loudly, but a distinguished gentleman stood behind her, smirking.
“Ah, Charles,” he said smiling. “So you’re the one who made Diane blow.”
“ROAN!” she yelled. The man she called Roan placed a hand over hers. She seemed to calm down.
“I believe you had something you wanted to discuss, Charles?” Roan asked.
“Yes, sir,” Chuck began.
“Agent Montgomery, Charles, or Roan if you will,” he replied.
“Roan, has anyone stopped for a second and thought there is some merit for why this other faction even exists?” Chuck asked. Roan straightened, put his left arm down, cupping his right elbow, with two fingers from his right hand on the side of his face, intrigued and grinning.
“Please, do go on, Charles,” Roan said.
“You’ve got people turning against the alphabet agencies, for what they’re calling the greater good. Well no wonder they are, and no wonder you’re losing. They’ve become cold, heartless, all because you have the dumbest rule in the world, ‘Spies don’t fall in love’.” Chuck just stared at the two in the monitor.
“Don’t stop, Charles, I think you’re on to something,” Roan said. Beckman was slow boiling, but quiet.
“People fall in love,” Chuck said. “People fall out of love. Robots don’t fall in love, and robots don’t have something to fight for.” Roan raised an eyebrow, the grin now a smile. “I don’t know much about spying, but I know this, if you sent someone to take me, or either of my girls, than a certain former spy would move heaven and hell to find me.”
“Giant blonde she-male,” Roan said softly. Sarah grinned.
“You want our help?” Chuck asked. Roan nodded. Beckman never moved. Chuck just stood there. She nodded. “Isn’t that against the rules?” Sarah turned away before she laughed out loud. “We can hide Jill, we change her last name, and hide her in our company. We help Bryce, we give him back-up as we can, we are his civilian assistants, and no one is the wiser. You defeat FULCRUM, and you let Bryce have whatever love life he wants or doesn’t want.”
“A partner would help,” Bryce added. Chuck looked at him. “Not you, buddy, or anyone at Carmichael, just a partner in general.”
“There’s no one we can trust,” Beckman said.
“There’s someone I trust,” Sarah replied. The General looked at her.
“She’s CIA,” Beckman said. Sarah bounced a shoulder.
“All you can do is ask,” Sarah offered.
“If I do this, will you give me back control of my office?” Beckman asked, trying not to stay angry.
“If I do, will you agree to at least listen to us, since you’re in unchartered territory?” Chuck asked. Beckman sighed, losing a little of her anger.
“You’re right, Chuck,” Beckman said. Even Roan was impressed with that. “We are losing. This is very unorthodox, but so is a civilian taking out my computer system. I will leave you a contact number where you can reach me. Never, do that again.”
“I didn’t want to, General, I just had to get your attention. I do apologize,” Chuck said apologetically and truthfully. Chuck pulled up his phone, hit a button, and she had control back of her computer. Beckman gave him a long look.
“One day, we should have a talk about things,” she said. With that Beckman signed off. Bryce grabbed Chuck.
“Don’t EVER do that again!” Bryce screamed. Sarah was confused. “Dude, you have no idea how close they came to recruiting you back in the day.”
“So?” Chuck replied.
“What if they decide to pull you in?” Bryce asked. Sarah stood up and stood beside Chuck, her arm around him.
“Let them try,” she said, looking straight at Bryce. Bryce stared at her for a second. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Sarah,” he began quietly. He looked at her for a long second. “I swear to God, if you’re playing him…” he couldn’t finish. Sarah smiled.
“I’m not,” she said. Bryce just stared at her. “Besides, if they tried to take him, I don’t think it would just be me, Casey, and Carina trying to save him, would it?” Bryce didn’t answer for a second. He looked over at Chuck who was grinning at him.
“Welcome home, Bryce,” Chuck said. Bryce shook his head, and backhanded him in the stomach. Sarah let go, and the two roughhoused for a minute, like it was Stanford all over again. “How do I do it?” he asked softly.
“Just be yourself, Bryce, if she doesn’t want you for you, then it’s not meant to be,” Chuck replied. Sarah nodded. Bryce started to leave, but paused at the door.
“I never thought I’d see this day,” he said at the door, grinning. He left, and Chuck found himself holding Sarah.
“Zondra?” he asked softly. Sarah shrugged.
“You got your friend back, maybe I want mine,” she said softly. Chuck kissed the top of her forehead.
“I think that would be great, but are you sure she won’t kill Bryce?” Chuck asked. Sarah shrugged and grinned into his chest. Chuck began to laugh out loud.
}o{
Preschool graduation was Friday, and everyone from Carmichael Industries was there, including Bryce. During the ceremony, the children did different skits, recited things they learned, and sang songs. At one point Chuck asked Sarah if one of the children looked a little green for a lack of a way to describe the child. Sarah whispered back that the child had told their parents earlier she didn’t feel good. Chuck had a bad feeling.
His feeling got worse when he saw Molly and Jerry leave the group that was set up on bleachers to form a chorus to go stand in front of the microphone on the opposite side of the room. The other children had finished the song, and Molly and Jerry were supposed to recite I’ve Never Seen a Purple Cow. There were three tiers of bleachers and the child that looked a little green was on the top row. Just as Molly began to speak, it happened. The child that looked green projectile vomited all over the kids in front of her. The child beside her jumped away, landing on another child’s foot, which caused that on to punch the jumper in the eye. Chaos erupted, and the teachers scrambled to resolve things, not thinking Mrs. Wood yelled over to Jerry and Molly.
“Tell them what you’ve learned!” Mrs. Wood said. Jerry grabbed the mike. Chuck blinked, knowing what was coming.
“When a mommy and a daddy love each other, they get married and go on a oneymoon and call the stork, unless you take a special pill and then you can call a whole bunch of times…” Jerry began. His parents turned white, and his mother passed out on the floor.
“I knew I should have brought my knives,” Sarah muttered. Casey and Carina were beside themselves laughing.
}o{
Two days later, Sarah awoke to find Chuck not in bed.
“Mama!” a voice called to her. She opened one eye and smiled at Clara who was sitting on the bed. “Hap Mama day!” she said.
“Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy!” Molly yelled, bringing a tray into the room. Sarah sat up, a little surprised. She had forgotten it was Mother’s Day. Clara handed her the small package she was holding.
“Is this for me?” she asked.
“Yep, for Mama,” Clara said. She tried to help Sarah open it. It took a few seconds but they got it unwrapped. Sarah felt tears come to her eyes.
“Are these your handprints?” Sarah asked, looking at gift in her hand. She looked up at Chuck.
“Don’t look at me, they did that at preschool, and I was under orders from the General not to say anything,” he said. Clara wrapped her arms around Sarah’s neck. Tears were in Chuck’s eyes as well.
“I made breakfast, Mommy,” Molly said. Sarah looked at Chuck.
“She made pancakes,” Chuck said, winking. Sarah grinned. “I tried to get them to let me take them shopping but they both wanted to give you stuff they made.”
“Well, they know it’s made with love, and I prefer that,” Sarah said, hugging both her girls.
“Then I’ll just return my gift, and find a stick out in the yard and carve something with it,” Chuck said grinning, and dodging the pillow thrown at him.
“Why did you get me something?” Sarah asked. Chuck handed her the small box. She opened it, it was a charm for the bracelet. She looked at Chuck, who looked very unsure of himself.
“I, uh,” he stammered.
“It’s perfect,” she said softly. “And, so are all of you. Come here.” Chuck sat on the bed with the three, and Sarah wrapped her arms around all three of them.
“Ever figure out what you’re going to do with me?” he asked. Sarah grinned.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Love, and cherish each moment.”
“Walker!” they heard from downstairs. Sarah looked at Chuck, her eyes wide. Chuck grinned.
“Maybe we have one more surprise, not that we planned it for Mother’s Day, but it worked out,” Chuck said. “Go.” Sarah scrambled off the bed and ran to the stairs, and looked down. There was Carina and Zondra.
“You’re right Carina,” Zondra said grinning. “She’s only missing footy pajamas.”
“I’ve got a pair,” Sarah said haughtily. She sprinted down the stairs, and caught Zondra in a hug. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I’m not,” Zondra said, grinning. Sarah pushed her away playfully. “Now go eat your breakfast your daughter made.” Sarah turned and saw Chuck bringing it down. “Not bad, cute, and you have him trained.”
“You should see the tricks he knows,” Sarah replied. Zondra turned and looked at Sarah.
“Keep it in your pants, Walker,” Casey said, sitting at the table. Sarah had missed him in her exuberance.
“Are you joining Bryce?” Sarah asked. Zondra nodded.
“We good?” Zondra asked. Sarah nodded. Carina came between them and threw one arm over Sarah, and one of Zondra.
“You know,” Carina began.
“I’m not in the field anymore,” Sarah said.
“We can still hit the club,” Carina suggested.
“Shopping?” Sarah offered. Carina’s eyes lit up.
“Casey want to stay and help me babysit?” Chuck offered. “I have Johnny Walker.” Casey grunted in acceptance. The group had breakfast and the three ladies left for a shopping spree.
“Bartowski, I heard about what you did for Larkin,” Casey said after they had left. “You didn’t have to.”
“Sarah didn’t have to bring you in, or Carina,” Chuck said, shrugging. “I told you, I don’t leave my friends behind.”
“You may have involved yourself more,” Casey countered. Chuck grinned at Casey.
“And if they come after me?” Chuck asked. Casey grinned, a scary sight.
“My itchy finger will be waiting for them.”
A/N: I was on the bottom row below a girl that was a little green during a presentation once….Next time, we begin a mission, or two. Sorry for the short chapter, but anything else seemed forced. See you soon.
DC