Snowed Under (2/6): Chuck
Title: Snowed Under (2/6)
Series Title: Five Times Chuck and Sarah share a bed for their cover (and one time they just do)
Author:
blueeyelinerx
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Chuck/Sarah, Nerd Herders, Morgan, minor guest appearance from Casey
Word Count: 2900
Summary: She’s used to having a plan for everything, for having contingency plans for her plans, and somehow this assignment manages to blow the hinges off anything she thinks is under her control.
Spoilers/Warnings: up to 1x11: Chuck vs. the Crown Vic
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to NBC. I’m just playing during the writers’ strike.
Author’s Notes: This is the second of five situations that Chuck and Sarah sleep together for their cover (plus one bonus story!) It’s a little more dialogue heavy so I hope you find all the voices to be in character. Also: I know the idea of snow in LA is preposterous but I tried to make it as plausible as possible - the show has a lot of fun with some pretty silly ideas and this is one of mine J
Sarah finds Chuck, the rest of the Nerd Herd, and Morgan in the home theatre room.
Chuck jumps up from his seat, his eyes wide. “Sarah!” he exclaims nervously. He pulls her into a hug and whispers, “No guns at Buy More!”
Using Chuck’s body as a shield, Sarah slips her gun back into her bag. “No one was supposed to be in here,” she whispers back. Thankfully no one had seen the gun in her hands. That would have been hard to explain. Louder, she says, “What are you guys doing here?”
Lester finally looks away from the TV screen to address Sarah, his eyes lingering on her Weinerlicious outfit. “Call of Duty 4 tournament. There’s a bracket. If you want in, it’ll cost you.”
Jeff leans over to Lester. “Easy money,” he says.
Sarah looks at the TV screen where Morgan and Anna’s characters are dressed in war gear carrying serious guns. It’s almost too much like her real life. “Thanks but I’ll pass. Why are you guys here though? I mean, with all the snow, shouldn’t you have postponed this?”
That gets everyone’s attention. Morgan pauses the game. “Snow? We live in LA, Sarah. Snow! Please.”
“You guys really didn’t hear?”
Chuck shifts from foot to foot, recognizing her serious voice. “Hear what?”
“This freak storm is coming in tonight. We’re getting 4-6 inches tonight. There’s already like 2 on the ground and it’s coming down pretty heavy. No one watches the news? No customers mentioned it today?”
Chuck’s eyes are wide. “There were hardly any customers today. We’re really behind on work orders and Big Mike had us back by the cage, fixing computers.”
Morgan shrugged. “I do my best to pass the days talking to no customers but still appearing busy. Today, I was very successful.”
Lester pipes up. “Watching the weather is for old ladies and dorks. We’re nerds.” He narrows his eyes at Sarah. “There’s really snow on the ground?”
“Yup,” Sarah nods.
There’s a beat where everyone looks at each other, the prospect of snow in Southern California forcing speechlessness upon them. Then Morgan yells, “SNOW!” and everyone rushes out of the home theatre room for the parking lot.
“Snow, Sarah!” Chuck grins at her as they follow everyone. “I can’t even remember the last time we had snow. Wait a minute, yes I can. I was in elementary school and we got like an inch and it was enough for a snow day. It was before Mom left and she made us hot chocolate after Ellie and I had run around in it.” Chuck’s got a small smile on his face. “Wow, that was a long time ago.”
They’re interrupted by everyone coming back inside. “It’s cold outside,” Jeff tells them solemnly and shivers to prove it.
“Global warming, man. It’s screwing up the environment - freak snow storms in LA, warm temperatures in Maine. Al Gore is laughing his ass off somewhere.” Lester shakes his head in disgust. Whether it’s disgust for global warming or Al Gore, Sarah isn’t sure.
An idea pops into Chuck’s head. “Sarah, how are we going to get home?”
“There’s only a few inches on the ground, Chuck. I’m sure if we drive carefully, it’ll be fine.”
“Fine for you, maybe,” Morgan interrupts. “But the rest of us aren’t snow experts. Snow is new territory for us.” Morgan grabs onto Chuck in a panic. “We’re trapped here!”
“We’re not trapped here, Morgan,” Chuck laughs, prying Morgan’s death grip off his arm. “Right, Sarah?”
“No, Chuck. If everyone drives slowly, we all will be fine.”
Anna yells from the TV section. “The news is saying to stay put where ever you are. Roads are not in good condition and plows are going to be slow in coming.”
“Very resourceful, honey, putting on the news,” Morgan tells her with a wide eyed look. He turns back to Chuck. “The news says to stay put - weather professionals, Chuck.”
Sarah smirks. “I thought the news was for dorks.”
“Not in a life or death situation, Sarah.” He gestures to Chuck, as if to say where did you get her? “We’re doomed!” Morgan yells.
“No, Morgan,” Anna rolls her eyes. “We’ll just sleep here.”
Lester and Jeff look at each other. “We call the home entertainment room!” They high five each other. “Have fun on the floor suckers.” They take off for the room in a run.
Morgan and Anna chase after them. Sarah turns to Chuck. “You realize this is a ridiculous suggestion. I am not sleeping in the Buy More.”
Chuck scoffs. “Better the Buy More than crashing your car on snow slicked roads.”
Sarah sighs, knowing it’s not worth it to fight Chuck on this. “I have to call Casey. We were supposed to have a meeting tonight.”
“Here? We were?”
“Not you. Just Casey and I.” Sarah doesn’t have to be an agent to see that Chuck feels disappointed and left out. But she can’t help that sometimes her bosses want to talk to the true trained agents without Chuck there. She puts a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you go try to find us something to sleep on? Something other than the cold floor?”
Chuck nods and heads to the home entertainment room. Sarah sighs and pulls out her phone. “Casey, it’s Sarah. Listen, you have to cancel the meeting tonight. The Nerd Herders and Morgan are here and they’re not leaving because of the snow.”
“So kick them out.”
“I can’t. They’re afraid to drive. Snow’s uncommon here, Casey.”
“Fine. Then you leave and come here. We’ll do it from my apartment.”
Sarah hesitates, trying to come up with an excuse that doesn’t make her look like an idiot. She can’t think of one so she goes with the truth. “The news says to stay put because the roads are bad and Chuck’s worried and no one wants to chance it …and I’m just staying here, ok?”
Casey laughs, low and mocking. “You do realize you’re a government agent, right Walker? I didn’t realize a little snow was all it took to scare you. Bartowski, fine. But you? I’ll be sure to tell our bosses what’s keeping you.”
“Oh bite me, Casey.” Sarah shuts her phone off in disgust.
Chuck’s hovering in the background. Sarah turns to him. “Ok. So Lester and Jeff are sleeping in the big chairs in the home entertainment room. And Anna and Morgan called that couch, which is fine because it’s not very big and we’re both too tall to sleep on it so I just gave it to them. Only Anna refuses to sleep in the same area as Jeff because she thinks he’s going to watch her sleep - and I think she’s right - so we dragged the couch out of the home entertainment room to where the TVs are. And I just called Ellie to let her know I was OK and staying here tonight and Awesome said that he left a sleeping bag in my car for some reason so you can have that and I’ll just find a desk chair and sleep in that.”
Sarah bites her lip. Anna and Morgan were sleeping on the same couch because they were a couple. It would seem weird if Sarah and Chuck were not sleeping in the same space too, right? “Is the sleeping bag big?”
Chuck shrugs. “I think it’s one of those hiking ones. If Awesome can fit in it, you’ll be fine.”
“Not for me. For both of us.”
Chuck’s eyes bug out a little. “Both -” he clears his throat. “Both of us?”
“Yes. We’re a couple, right? Sharing a sleeping bag will help our cover.” Chuck nods, slowly. “Great.”
“Ahhh, okay. I’ll just - go get the sleeping bag?” Chuck doesn’t wait for a reply before he bolts for his car.
Sarah sighs as she watches him go. To be honest, there’s no need to share a sleeping bag. It wouldn’t be completely unreasonable for Chuck to be chivalrous and allow her the sleeping bag. Plus, their cover doesn’t even need work with the Nerd Herders - none of them are important enough to warrant extra effort, except for Morgan, and she’s pretty sure he’s convinced Sarah and Chuck are together.
So why does she feel the need to share a sleeping bag with Chuck? She tells herself that it has absolutely nothing to do with the way he looks in the morning, rumpled and sleepy, as he smiles at her. Or how he felt next to her in New Orleans. And it’s definitely unrelated to how loved she feels when she’s cuddled into him.
Sarah closes her eyes. This is not at all how the assignment was supposed to go.
--
The only good thing about being stuck in the Buy More with the Nerd Herders is their propensity for food. Prior to the snow, they had ordered multiple pizza pies and bought lots of snacks to fuel their video gaming. Sarah has a decent time watching them play X-Box, munching on Cheese Doodles, and leaning into Chuck. She doesn’t even mind the way Jeff stares at her as she licks the orange cheese off her fingers.
It’s after one in the morning when she starts yawning heavily. Anna’s already asleep on Morgan’s shoulder and when Chuck suggests going to bed, Morgan nods his head in agreement. Sarah stifles a smile as Morgan tries to figure out how to carry Anna to the couch without waking her up and Anna tells him “I can walk Morgan” without opening her eyes.
Sarah shucks her shoes before crawling into the sleeping bag. She cannot believe she’s actually sleeping in the Buy More - and in her stupid Weinerlicious outfit. She’s used to having a plan for everything, for having contingency plans for her plans, and somehow this assignment manages to blow the hinges off anything she thinks is under her control.
Chuck takes off his belt, tie, and socks before getting into the sleeping bag beside her. It’s a tight fit even if it is a larger than normal sleeping bag and there’s a few awkward minutes of shifting around for both of them to get comfortable.
“No pillows,” Sarah says ruefully.
“You can use my shoulder,” Chuck suggests shyly.
Sarah lies her head down on his shoulder and the rest of her body follows. Their bodies are aligned from their heads to their toes and she has to put an arm around Chuck’s torso for them to fit. She curses this idea at the same time that her traitorous body molds to Chuck’s and relaxes.
Her feet brush Chuck’s calves. He jerks and yells, “Sarah, your feet are freezing!”
She can hear Lester and Jeff laughing in the theatre room. “I’ll warm them up,” Jeff offers in his monotone voice.
“Ah-ha,” Chuck forces a laugh. “That’s - that’s OK buddy. I have it under control.”
Sarah grins impishly and deliberately puts her feet against his legs to warm them up. “Seriously Sarah,” Chuck whispers. “Put on socks or something! They are like blocks of ice.”
“I only have knee highs in my car,” Sarah tells him and Chuck’s brain goes to a bad place.
“Fine, never mind then,” he says and his body is rigid under hers. Sarah shifts again, trying to find the comfortable place she had before Chuck accidently moved.
“Hey,” yells Lester. “No sex in the champagne room!”
“What?” asks Chuck. “Lester, no one is having sex.”
“Don’t think we can’t hear that sleeping bag rustling. One moan from you Bartowski and I’m going to be forced to get a video camera.”
“O-kay Lester. I’ll keep that in mind.” Sarah’s silently laughing, her body shaking against his.
Somehow, they all manage to fall asleep.
--
Sarah wakes up the next morning to the sound of plows in the parking lot. She can hear Jeff snoring and a quick glance around finds Anna and Morgan still asleep in what looks to be a very uncomfortable position on the couch. Chuck’s awake though and his warm brown eyes meet hers.
“We’re saved,” she teases. Chuck smiles, his eyes hooded from sleep, and there’s no earthly reason he should look as sexy as he does. “Did you sleep at all?”
Chuck shrugs. “Some.”
“Sorry,” Sarah says and shifts into a more comfortable position. The sleeping bag is warm and Chuck is like a furnace but she can’t make herself get out of the sleeping bag. She nudges a leg in between his and rests her head more fully on his chest so that most of her body is lying on top of him. Chuck brings his arms around her, one hand on the small of her back, the other rubbing her shoulders gently.
“This is nice,” he whispers and immediately panics. “I mean - it’s nice because I like spending time with you, not it’s nice because I’m enjoying this which, I mean, of course - ”
“Chuck,” Sarah interrupts. “I know.”
Everything she has learned as an agent is telling her no no no but she can’t stop herself as she leans up and captures Chuck’s lips with her own. It’s like having an out of body experience - one minute she’s simply enjoying being held, the next minute she’s leaning up to kiss Chuck without any real idea of how she got there or how to stop. Chuck tenses underneath her, confused and unsure, distracted by the thought of morning breath and all the pizza he ate last night. Sarah takes advantage of this, opening her mouth and touching her tongue to his closed lips. That spurs Chuck into action and he opens his mouth to her, deepening the kiss with touching tongues and hands heavy on her waist.
It’s not the frenzied, desperate, life or death kiss they shared weeks ago, but it still has the same underlying passion. This kiss is sweet and maybe a little dirty too, the illicitness of it making the experience even more enjoyable. Not that Chuck needs any help, Sarah thinks. He may be a nerd but god, can he kiss.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Lester muses from somewhere up above them and it’s a testament to Chuck that she’s so distracted she hadn’t heard him approach them.
“What? Lester, get that video camera out of here!” Morgan says from the couch and Sarah freezes, mortified. Her mind thinks of a million awful things that can come from a video tape of her kissing the Intersect - if Casey sees it, she’s dead.
Chuck can feel the change in her even as Sarah shifts over in the sleeping bag, off Chuck. She surreptitiously fixes her outfit - damn Chuck and his nimble fingers! - and her ponytails. “Lester,” she says in a faux calm voice and she makes sure she makes eye contact with him. He’s still scared of her from the time he attempted to pick her up in the Weinerlicious. “Give me the tape.”
“Make me,” Lester smirks. His face falls as Sarah moves to get out of the sleeping bag and he remembers her cat like reflexes as she jumped on the Weinerlicious counter and wrapped her long legs around him. “Ah, ok, ok. There’s no tape, see?” He opens the camera’s tape deck and it’s empty. “It was just a joke!”
Chuck, who had sat up in the sleeping bag at the words video camera, flops back down onto the hard ground. “We have to get going,” he says flatly after a minute. “The store opens in a few hours.”
“Yeah,” Jeff agrees. “I need some French toast.”
It’s the type of non-sequitor everyone’s used to from Jeff and Sarah simply ignores him. The air is cold as she gets out of the sleeping bag and puts on her shoes quickly. Chuck rolls up the sleeping bag and everyone ambles out to the parking lot. The parking lot is perfectly plowed but there’s a general feeling of helplessness at the sight of snow on their cars.
Sarah helps Chuck clean off his car. “Are you sure you’ll be OK to drive home? Because I can give you a ride if you want.”
“I’ll be fine,” Chuck says evenly. He pauses and turns to her, his eyes flicking from the ground to her face. “Sarah - I have to ask. What was that before?”
Sarah knows he means the kiss. “I don’t know,” she tells him truthfully, her face miserable. It’s one thing to have a fling with your partner when you both understand the risks. But Chuck didn’t sign up for any of this, he’s not a real agent, and even if he was, he’s not the type to hook up arbitrarily without attachments.
“That’s what I thought,” Chuck says and he’s miserable too. He gets in his car and powers down the window. “Oh, I forgot to tell you - dinner tonight at 7. Ellie’s making my favorite.”
“I’ll be there,” she tells him. She watches him back up and drive away before heading across the parking lot and getting into her own car. She sits there for a second before hitting the steering wheel in anger. “Damn!”
Sarah takes a deep breath and forces herself to drive home for a shower and a quick breakfast before another day at Weinerlicious. No, she thinks. This is not at all how the assignment was supposed to go.
there's a cold voice on the air.
you've been looking everywhere
for someone to understand your hopes and fears.
well, i've thought about that for many long years...
+ snowed under, keane
Series Title: Five Times Chuck and Sarah share a bed for their cover (and one time they just do)
Author:
blueeyelinerx
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Chuck/Sarah, Nerd Herders, Morgan, minor guest appearance from Casey
Word Count: 2900
Summary: She’s used to having a plan for everything, for having contingency plans for her plans, and somehow this assignment manages to blow the hinges off anything she thinks is under her control.
Spoilers/Warnings: up to 1x11: Chuck vs. the Crown Vic
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to NBC. I’m just playing during the writers’ strike.
Author’s Notes: This is the second of five situations that Chuck and Sarah sleep together for their cover (plus one bonus story!) It’s a little more dialogue heavy so I hope you find all the voices to be in character. Also: I know the idea of snow in LA is preposterous but I tried to make it as plausible as possible - the show has a lot of fun with some pretty silly ideas and this is one of mine J
Sarah finds Chuck, the rest of the Nerd Herd, and Morgan in the home theatre room.
Chuck jumps up from his seat, his eyes wide. “Sarah!” he exclaims nervously. He pulls her into a hug and whispers, “No guns at Buy More!”
Using Chuck’s body as a shield, Sarah slips her gun back into her bag. “No one was supposed to be in here,” she whispers back. Thankfully no one had seen the gun in her hands. That would have been hard to explain. Louder, she says, “What are you guys doing here?”
Lester finally looks away from the TV screen to address Sarah, his eyes lingering on her Weinerlicious outfit. “Call of Duty 4 tournament. There’s a bracket. If you want in, it’ll cost you.”
Jeff leans over to Lester. “Easy money,” he says.
Sarah looks at the TV screen where Morgan and Anna’s characters are dressed in war gear carrying serious guns. It’s almost too much like her real life. “Thanks but I’ll pass. Why are you guys here though? I mean, with all the snow, shouldn’t you have postponed this?”
That gets everyone’s attention. Morgan pauses the game. “Snow? We live in LA, Sarah. Snow! Please.”
“You guys really didn’t hear?”
Chuck shifts from foot to foot, recognizing her serious voice. “Hear what?”
“This freak storm is coming in tonight. We’re getting 4-6 inches tonight. There’s already like 2 on the ground and it’s coming down pretty heavy. No one watches the news? No customers mentioned it today?”
Chuck’s eyes are wide. “There were hardly any customers today. We’re really behind on work orders and Big Mike had us back by the cage, fixing computers.”
Morgan shrugged. “I do my best to pass the days talking to no customers but still appearing busy. Today, I was very successful.”
Lester pipes up. “Watching the weather is for old ladies and dorks. We’re nerds.” He narrows his eyes at Sarah. “There’s really snow on the ground?”
“Yup,” Sarah nods.
There’s a beat where everyone looks at each other, the prospect of snow in Southern California forcing speechlessness upon them. Then Morgan yells, “SNOW!” and everyone rushes out of the home theatre room for the parking lot.
“Snow, Sarah!” Chuck grins at her as they follow everyone. “I can’t even remember the last time we had snow. Wait a minute, yes I can. I was in elementary school and we got like an inch and it was enough for a snow day. It was before Mom left and she made us hot chocolate after Ellie and I had run around in it.” Chuck’s got a small smile on his face. “Wow, that was a long time ago.”
They’re interrupted by everyone coming back inside. “It’s cold outside,” Jeff tells them solemnly and shivers to prove it.
“Global warming, man. It’s screwing up the environment - freak snow storms in LA, warm temperatures in Maine. Al Gore is laughing his ass off somewhere.” Lester shakes his head in disgust. Whether it’s disgust for global warming or Al Gore, Sarah isn’t sure.
An idea pops into Chuck’s head. “Sarah, how are we going to get home?”
“There’s only a few inches on the ground, Chuck. I’m sure if we drive carefully, it’ll be fine.”
“Fine for you, maybe,” Morgan interrupts. “But the rest of us aren’t snow experts. Snow is new territory for us.” Morgan grabs onto Chuck in a panic. “We’re trapped here!”
“We’re not trapped here, Morgan,” Chuck laughs, prying Morgan’s death grip off his arm. “Right, Sarah?”
“No, Chuck. If everyone drives slowly, we all will be fine.”
Anna yells from the TV section. “The news is saying to stay put where ever you are. Roads are not in good condition and plows are going to be slow in coming.”
“Very resourceful, honey, putting on the news,” Morgan tells her with a wide eyed look. He turns back to Chuck. “The news says to stay put - weather professionals, Chuck.”
Sarah smirks. “I thought the news was for dorks.”
“Not in a life or death situation, Sarah.” He gestures to Chuck, as if to say where did you get her? “We’re doomed!” Morgan yells.
“No, Morgan,” Anna rolls her eyes. “We’ll just sleep here.”
Lester and Jeff look at each other. “We call the home entertainment room!” They high five each other. “Have fun on the floor suckers.” They take off for the room in a run.
Morgan and Anna chase after them. Sarah turns to Chuck. “You realize this is a ridiculous suggestion. I am not sleeping in the Buy More.”
Chuck scoffs. “Better the Buy More than crashing your car on snow slicked roads.”
Sarah sighs, knowing it’s not worth it to fight Chuck on this. “I have to call Casey. We were supposed to have a meeting tonight.”
“Here? We were?”
“Not you. Just Casey and I.” Sarah doesn’t have to be an agent to see that Chuck feels disappointed and left out. But she can’t help that sometimes her bosses want to talk to the true trained agents without Chuck there. She puts a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you go try to find us something to sleep on? Something other than the cold floor?”
Chuck nods and heads to the home entertainment room. Sarah sighs and pulls out her phone. “Casey, it’s Sarah. Listen, you have to cancel the meeting tonight. The Nerd Herders and Morgan are here and they’re not leaving because of the snow.”
“So kick them out.”
“I can’t. They’re afraid to drive. Snow’s uncommon here, Casey.”
“Fine. Then you leave and come here. We’ll do it from my apartment.”
Sarah hesitates, trying to come up with an excuse that doesn’t make her look like an idiot. She can’t think of one so she goes with the truth. “The news says to stay put because the roads are bad and Chuck’s worried and no one wants to chance it …and I’m just staying here, ok?”
Casey laughs, low and mocking. “You do realize you’re a government agent, right Walker? I didn’t realize a little snow was all it took to scare you. Bartowski, fine. But you? I’ll be sure to tell our bosses what’s keeping you.”
“Oh bite me, Casey.” Sarah shuts her phone off in disgust.
Chuck’s hovering in the background. Sarah turns to him. “Ok. So Lester and Jeff are sleeping in the big chairs in the home entertainment room. And Anna and Morgan called that couch, which is fine because it’s not very big and we’re both too tall to sleep on it so I just gave it to them. Only Anna refuses to sleep in the same area as Jeff because she thinks he’s going to watch her sleep - and I think she’s right - so we dragged the couch out of the home entertainment room to where the TVs are. And I just called Ellie to let her know I was OK and staying here tonight and Awesome said that he left a sleeping bag in my car for some reason so you can have that and I’ll just find a desk chair and sleep in that.”
Sarah bites her lip. Anna and Morgan were sleeping on the same couch because they were a couple. It would seem weird if Sarah and Chuck were not sleeping in the same space too, right? “Is the sleeping bag big?”
Chuck shrugs. “I think it’s one of those hiking ones. If Awesome can fit in it, you’ll be fine.”
“Not for me. For both of us.”
Chuck’s eyes bug out a little. “Both -” he clears his throat. “Both of us?”
“Yes. We’re a couple, right? Sharing a sleeping bag will help our cover.” Chuck nods, slowly. “Great.”
“Ahhh, okay. I’ll just - go get the sleeping bag?” Chuck doesn’t wait for a reply before he bolts for his car.
Sarah sighs as she watches him go. To be honest, there’s no need to share a sleeping bag. It wouldn’t be completely unreasonable for Chuck to be chivalrous and allow her the sleeping bag. Plus, their cover doesn’t even need work with the Nerd Herders - none of them are important enough to warrant extra effort, except for Morgan, and she’s pretty sure he’s convinced Sarah and Chuck are together.
So why does she feel the need to share a sleeping bag with Chuck? She tells herself that it has absolutely nothing to do with the way he looks in the morning, rumpled and sleepy, as he smiles at her. Or how he felt next to her in New Orleans. And it’s definitely unrelated to how loved she feels when she’s cuddled into him.
Sarah closes her eyes. This is not at all how the assignment was supposed to go.
--
The only good thing about being stuck in the Buy More with the Nerd Herders is their propensity for food. Prior to the snow, they had ordered multiple pizza pies and bought lots of snacks to fuel their video gaming. Sarah has a decent time watching them play X-Box, munching on Cheese Doodles, and leaning into Chuck. She doesn’t even mind the way Jeff stares at her as she licks the orange cheese off her fingers.
It’s after one in the morning when she starts yawning heavily. Anna’s already asleep on Morgan’s shoulder and when Chuck suggests going to bed, Morgan nods his head in agreement. Sarah stifles a smile as Morgan tries to figure out how to carry Anna to the couch without waking her up and Anna tells him “I can walk Morgan” without opening her eyes.
Sarah shucks her shoes before crawling into the sleeping bag. She cannot believe she’s actually sleeping in the Buy More - and in her stupid Weinerlicious outfit. She’s used to having a plan for everything, for having contingency plans for her plans, and somehow this assignment manages to blow the hinges off anything she thinks is under her control.
Chuck takes off his belt, tie, and socks before getting into the sleeping bag beside her. It’s a tight fit even if it is a larger than normal sleeping bag and there’s a few awkward minutes of shifting around for both of them to get comfortable.
“No pillows,” Sarah says ruefully.
“You can use my shoulder,” Chuck suggests shyly.
Sarah lies her head down on his shoulder and the rest of her body follows. Their bodies are aligned from their heads to their toes and she has to put an arm around Chuck’s torso for them to fit. She curses this idea at the same time that her traitorous body molds to Chuck’s and relaxes.
Her feet brush Chuck’s calves. He jerks and yells, “Sarah, your feet are freezing!”
She can hear Lester and Jeff laughing in the theatre room. “I’ll warm them up,” Jeff offers in his monotone voice.
“Ah-ha,” Chuck forces a laugh. “That’s - that’s OK buddy. I have it under control.”
Sarah grins impishly and deliberately puts her feet against his legs to warm them up. “Seriously Sarah,” Chuck whispers. “Put on socks or something! They are like blocks of ice.”
“I only have knee highs in my car,” Sarah tells him and Chuck’s brain goes to a bad place.
“Fine, never mind then,” he says and his body is rigid under hers. Sarah shifts again, trying to find the comfortable place she had before Chuck accidently moved.
“Hey,” yells Lester. “No sex in the champagne room!”
“What?” asks Chuck. “Lester, no one is having sex.”
“Don’t think we can’t hear that sleeping bag rustling. One moan from you Bartowski and I’m going to be forced to get a video camera.”
“O-kay Lester. I’ll keep that in mind.” Sarah’s silently laughing, her body shaking against his.
Somehow, they all manage to fall asleep.
--
Sarah wakes up the next morning to the sound of plows in the parking lot. She can hear Jeff snoring and a quick glance around finds Anna and Morgan still asleep in what looks to be a very uncomfortable position on the couch. Chuck’s awake though and his warm brown eyes meet hers.
“We’re saved,” she teases. Chuck smiles, his eyes hooded from sleep, and there’s no earthly reason he should look as sexy as he does. “Did you sleep at all?”
Chuck shrugs. “Some.”
“Sorry,” Sarah says and shifts into a more comfortable position. The sleeping bag is warm and Chuck is like a furnace but she can’t make herself get out of the sleeping bag. She nudges a leg in between his and rests her head more fully on his chest so that most of her body is lying on top of him. Chuck brings his arms around her, one hand on the small of her back, the other rubbing her shoulders gently.
“This is nice,” he whispers and immediately panics. “I mean - it’s nice because I like spending time with you, not it’s nice because I’m enjoying this which, I mean, of course - ”
“Chuck,” Sarah interrupts. “I know.”
Everything she has learned as an agent is telling her no no no but she can’t stop herself as she leans up and captures Chuck’s lips with her own. It’s like having an out of body experience - one minute she’s simply enjoying being held, the next minute she’s leaning up to kiss Chuck without any real idea of how she got there or how to stop. Chuck tenses underneath her, confused and unsure, distracted by the thought of morning breath and all the pizza he ate last night. Sarah takes advantage of this, opening her mouth and touching her tongue to his closed lips. That spurs Chuck into action and he opens his mouth to her, deepening the kiss with touching tongues and hands heavy on her waist.
It’s not the frenzied, desperate, life or death kiss they shared weeks ago, but it still has the same underlying passion. This kiss is sweet and maybe a little dirty too, the illicitness of it making the experience even more enjoyable. Not that Chuck needs any help, Sarah thinks. He may be a nerd but god, can he kiss.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Lester muses from somewhere up above them and it’s a testament to Chuck that she’s so distracted she hadn’t heard him approach them.
“What? Lester, get that video camera out of here!” Morgan says from the couch and Sarah freezes, mortified. Her mind thinks of a million awful things that can come from a video tape of her kissing the Intersect - if Casey sees it, she’s dead.
Chuck can feel the change in her even as Sarah shifts over in the sleeping bag, off Chuck. She surreptitiously fixes her outfit - damn Chuck and his nimble fingers! - and her ponytails. “Lester,” she says in a faux calm voice and she makes sure she makes eye contact with him. He’s still scared of her from the time he attempted to pick her up in the Weinerlicious. “Give me the tape.”
“Make me,” Lester smirks. His face falls as Sarah moves to get out of the sleeping bag and he remembers her cat like reflexes as she jumped on the Weinerlicious counter and wrapped her long legs around him. “Ah, ok, ok. There’s no tape, see?” He opens the camera’s tape deck and it’s empty. “It was just a joke!”
Chuck, who had sat up in the sleeping bag at the words video camera, flops back down onto the hard ground. “We have to get going,” he says flatly after a minute. “The store opens in a few hours.”
“Yeah,” Jeff agrees. “I need some French toast.”
It’s the type of non-sequitor everyone’s used to from Jeff and Sarah simply ignores him. The air is cold as she gets out of the sleeping bag and puts on her shoes quickly. Chuck rolls up the sleeping bag and everyone ambles out to the parking lot. The parking lot is perfectly plowed but there’s a general feeling of helplessness at the sight of snow on their cars.
Sarah helps Chuck clean off his car. “Are you sure you’ll be OK to drive home? Because I can give you a ride if you want.”
“I’ll be fine,” Chuck says evenly. He pauses and turns to her, his eyes flicking from the ground to her face. “Sarah - I have to ask. What was that before?”
Sarah knows he means the kiss. “I don’t know,” she tells him truthfully, her face miserable. It’s one thing to have a fling with your partner when you both understand the risks. But Chuck didn’t sign up for any of this, he’s not a real agent, and even if he was, he’s not the type to hook up arbitrarily without attachments.
“That’s what I thought,” Chuck says and he’s miserable too. He gets in his car and powers down the window. “Oh, I forgot to tell you - dinner tonight at 7. Ellie’s making my favorite.”
“I’ll be there,” she tells him. She watches him back up and drive away before heading across the parking lot and getting into her own car. She sits there for a second before hitting the steering wheel in anger. “Damn!”
Sarah takes a deep breath and forces herself to drive home for a shower and a quick breakfast before another day at Weinerlicious. No, she thinks. This is not at all how the assignment was supposed to go.
there's a cold voice on the air.
you've been looking everywhere
for someone to understand your hopes and fears.
well, i've thought about that for many long years...
+ snowed under, keane