A cross-over, hahahahhaahhaha

[blainesgirl]

Long Day

Sarah was deep in thought. It had been a long day again. It had come with more protecting Chuck, more putting up with Casey, and more espionage. More shooting, more acrobatics, more, more, more, more….

A day simply filled with just more of the same old stuff.

OK, maybe not the same old stuff.

Sarah knew there were certainly things that were new in her life. There were certainly new kinds of people she was meeting. There were definitely new twists to her style of work. Sarah could say that the constant changes weren't necessarily good, but they were funny.

Sarah thought of all the little things that drove her funny in the beginning of her mission. All those amusing quirks of life and the people in Chuck's life that Sarah thought were going to drive her insane on a daily basis. Chuck’s sister had, at first, seemed over protecting and over bearing. Ellie had turned into alove-able, accepting, brave person who made sure to involve Sarah, Morgan, even Casey into her family at every chance she got.

When Sarah started going to the Buy More, Chuck's co-workers were more than a little obnoxious. Sarah came to realize each one of their personalities were so different than she had first assumed.  With the knowledge of how big their hearts were, she came to realize how many insecurities they covered with their outgoing gawkiness.

Once a little effort was made on Sarah's part to do small things for them, things really changed for the better. The smiles and gratitude that flowed from Chuck's co-workers carried it’s own rewards. So, Sarah strove to make sure to talk, smile, nod, or even touch one of them on a regular basis. It seemed to settle her a bit when she did. The small acts seemed to make her feel a little less lonely.

Then there was Morgan. That little stone in her side (he wasn’t sharp enough to be a thorn) drove her absolutely nuts at first. Then she came to know him. That cute adorable little geek had to be the most loyal, humble, sacrificing geek of a best friend that she had ever seen. If Chuck would ever go on to better things she was sure that Morgan would follow behind him. Even if that meant Morgan’s job, relationships, or lifestyle; all would be dropped without a second glance.OK, admittedly , the second glance would be taken. There would definitely come around with lots of moping, lots of pizza, lots of soda, and hours of whining. Granted Chuck would never intentionally cause any harm to Morgan. Morgan was Chuck’s self proclaimed side kick who made it possible for Chuck to have his regular flashes of insight and view the blacker side of life without going insane.

Most people couldn’t handle being thrown from one world into another.

Lazlo had shown Chuck that. Yet, that wasn't what seemed to gnaw at Chuck; it wasn’t the lifestyle, the pay, the glamor, the mystique or the constant beautiful people that threw him off. It was the people that the government tended to use up and throw away once they had become insane husks of their former selves, incapable of living real lives.

That Chuck knew of, Casey and Sarah were used to how the government really worked. The two spies had seen enough of the good and the bad during their short lives; they acknowledged it openly to Chuck trying to make him understand. Just the fact that it was there at all was what tended to throw Chuck off. Sarah hated seeing the look of betrayal that often flashed in his eyes. They all knew life working that way was wrong. They also all knew how crappy the government could be; that it was a necessary evil until something better came around the bend.

Their earlier assignments came with victories, though some of the assignments had also come with losses. This past week had been particularly taxing, both mentally and physically exhausting. What had made it all that much worse was the disapproval the CIA and NSA higher ups had shown towards Chuck.

Both Casey and Sarah had been a little put off at their constant barrage of negatives that their higher us had heaped upon the civilian. When they left Casey's apartment and walked to the outside of Chuck and Ellie’s apartment Sarah and Casey tried to give Chuck their quiet support with a hand on either of his shoulders.

Casey had nodded to her when they split up. The hand that barely touched her elbow had showed her, an indication that he was going to take the 'Chuck Watch' for the night, allowing her time to cool down. Her half smile in his general direction had shown him she appreciated the gesture more than Casey could show. She also had to grin a little inside at the thought of Casey spending more time listening to Chuck and Morgan's rants about various sandwiches and desert islands.

That was how Sarah ended up on her doorstep not really remembering her trip home. Sarah took a minute standing in silence there looking up and trying to see the stars. There were so many times she missed her field assignments in third world countries. Sarah missed seeing the stars that the city lights blocked out. She dug out her keys to unlock the door, entering her home quietly, not even bothering to turn on the lights.

As soon as she passed the living room's thresh-hold she began to strip down, peeling off layers upon layers of clothes and protective gear. The chill of the room made her shiver. Stepping into the center of the room with only faded street lights to show her the way, Sarah started working into a complicated set of moves that helped keep her fit and flexible for the missions. More importantly the exercise centered her mind.

Sarah's discomfort was a pent up feeling deep in her stomach that she knew the cause too but refused to acknowledge. Her blond hair was down, let loose from the tight twin pony tales she wore in public. Sarah could feel the tips and silky strands brush against her skin with her moves, swishing around her face. It tickled.

Sarah listened around her but stayed focused on her breathing. Sweat formed, dripping from her skin; it cooled before it touched the ground giving her chills that stayed away only by moving steadily. Sarah's exercises developed into a series of long stretches, bringing her breathing and heart beat down.
At the end Sarah was a little more stable. She rose slowly from her final stretch on the carpet.

Sarah looked for the thin beams of light filtering through her thin curtains from the lights outside. She closed her eyes; counting the number of steps she knew would need to carry her down the hall and in her bathroom.

Reaching out Sarah heard the small click as her nails hit the wall. She followed it around the room to the shower stall. Sarah didn’t need the stability from the wall, she wasn’t off kilter or off balance. Sarah just wanted the contact.

Sarah thought about the reason for the empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt the moisture in her eyes well to the surface. Tears trailed down Sarah's cheeks, dripping down to fall onto her chest.

Touching the textured wall become cold tile, Sarah's hands reached out, moving the curtain aside to turn the shower on. Sarah stepped underneath the spray without waiting for the water to heat. The icy spray stopped the tears, shocking her into alertness as the water gradually warmed. Slowly the bathroom filled with steam.

Sarah let the shower run on. The warm water turned to hot quickly. The heat started to burn her skin so she went through the motions to adjust it to sauna without first degree burns.  Thinking of the motions it took to do such a mundane thing seemed to once again her thoughts to the loneliness that enveloped her.

Before Sarah could start brooding again she felt a shift in the air around her. Her eyes flew wide as strong hands grabbed her wrists from behind while legs braced against and around her own. As Sarah was shoved into the shower wall she realized her attacker was male. He was fully male; in fact just as naked as she was. Sarah shuddered feeling how excited he was against her back. His arms covered hers, holding them bent with her hands together between her breasts immobilizing them both Sarah's arms and her hands. His face pressed against hers painfully. She felt the beard covering his jaw against her cheek as he breathed into her face while her other cheek was forced against cold against the cold tile. Their breaths were both rushed. Sarah and her attacker breathed heavily as they strained against each other, both trying to get the upper hand.

A flood of thoughts raced through Sarah’s mind. She wondered why he didn’t just kill her? She wondered at what kind of torture he had planned, who did he work or how long it was going to take Sarah to kill him. Her body stayed on alert waiting for the next move.

Nothing came to pass though. He kept her held there. Sarah had started to relax, hoping to catch him off guard. However, his grip never lessened; the force he held her against the wall of the shower never let up. A thousand comments raced through her mind just as she realized how quickly he could kill her if Sarah tried to yell for help. Not that Sarah yelling would accomplish anything. Sometimes she cursed the sound proofing her apartment held. Most of the time she praised it.  Sarah also knew someone probably bugged her apartment the same way she had bugged other places.

One sharp comment came to mind. Sarah started to speak, “I was...!” but she was cut off quickly when his face shifted, his taller frame giving him the advantage as he pressed the front of Sarah's face into the shower while using his shoulder so she couldn’t moved her head away. Her teeth pressed hard against her lips. Sarah wondered if he was willing to break her mouth to keep her silent.

So, Sarah waited. After a moment he shifted back where he was just allowing her to move enough where her lips weren’t endangered from being cut open against the tile.

Still, the shower ran on,  Sarah was quickly becoming annoyed. With the boredom of not fighting, Sarah wondered how long it would take for the water to grow cold. Sarah also wondered if this was an odd form of water torture, boring your captive to death while naked in the shower.

Although, Sarah had to admit feeling him pressed up against her back, she knew he hadn’t relaxed any. She could feel the evidence of just how excited  he was when he first grabbed her. At least with the boredom other senses than just reactionary came back on line. The parts of Sarah's mind that shut down initially were starting to awaken. Her mind raced through her body using her nerves to remember everything she could about him. How hairy he was, his height, his frame, even how he breathed were stamped into her memory for later use. She was determined she would lived through it just so she could kill him herself for ruining her quiet time.

The more details about him Sarah took in though, the more unsettled she became. Sarah felt heat spreading through her body that had nothing to do with the hot water or the particular situation. She started to notice how his muscles seemed to flex every once in a while. Where as Sarah first thought he was maintaining his control, she started to think it was almost as if he was hugging her.  His breathing had seemed to normalize, but then it would  hitch just as his body stretched against hers. Sarah also realized that while he was holding her hands together and between her front and the shower, that his thumbs were slowly almost indistinctly caressing her hands, her chest, and her collar bones just as Sarah herself would if she were trying to memorize something with her own hands.

Sarah was startled when she finally took in the motions of his mouth. Although he held her head forcefully in place, his jaws moved so minuscule that she hadn’t noticed the small movements his lips were making. He was gently moving his lips. The gesture was so gentle that she had thought it was his breath brushing her cheek. Sarah flushed realizing his lips moved with more of a kissing gesture.

Then, finally, Sarah breathed him in. She inhaled the taste of his breath, his cologne, his deodorant, his skin.

Sarah knew that smell just as she knew her own.

“OH!” she breathed aloud.

At first Sarah winced a bit thinking of him crushing her teeth into the tile again. But she relaxed into his embrace when he let her exclamation go. Sarah's mind raced again. She hadn’t allowed her mind to think of him these past few months. She hadn’t wanted to talk about him at all to anyone with more than a few cut off words.

Now, here he was holding her. What was she going to do? How would she let him know without talking? How were they going to keep from alerting anyone to his presence? Who was following him now? How were they going to talk? Did they really need to talk?

Sarah felt her body flush with that though. They didn’t need to talk. Sarah loved when her mind answered her own inner monologues questions.

Slowly, she started to shift her muscles in tune with his. Her breathing became steadier, deeper. When his muscles tightened she met his movement. She arched her back even if it meant forcing her breasts painfully into the wall again. It was worth it to feel his wet length slide against her back as she shifted. Her shoulder blades rotated little by little feeling the hair on his chest against her skin.  Sarah let her legs relax, allowing her to place her weight into his frame. The motion made him support her. The position gave her a little more room to wriggle against him.

Where before there was a struggle for freedom. She turned their positions into a struggle to seduce him. To let him know she knew who he really was.

Sarah felt it in his arms first as he hesitantly moved them away from the wall. Still holding her hands, still holding down her arms with his own arms he bent his wrists to rub over her breast. The heat from his skin instantly warmed where Sarah was growing cold from the tile. She sighed loudly at the touch that inflamed her. Sarah knew he felt the tremble in her breath with the motions he made. His hands went from holding her fists in a steely grip into sliding under hers, placing more of himself against the wall as his fingers tickled over her lower arms. His upper torso twisting around to face her. His shoulders now keeping her from the tile, his lips coming closer to her own.  She breathed his name in a whisper, “Bryce”, sinking into his oncoming kiss.

Through the night, their movements stayed slow. Every touch made with their hands was unhurried. Every body placement was precise. Every breath was measured. They both knew, they both understood that they had only a few precious hours to memorize everything they possibly could that had changed since the last time they had been separated. They remained quite, not making any sounds other than with heavy breaths.  Their gasps and muted grunts were covered by the radio she turned on when entering her room.

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In the morning, while laying in bed, Sarah grasped at her pillow which was still wet from biting into it during the night. She thought of him.

Sarah thought of the way he bathed her in the shower, paying attention to every curve of her body; allowing her to pay the same attention to him. After they had let the water grow cold they had stepped out of the spray, simply holding on to each other. Sarah tried to make the first move. She toweled him off for only a second before he took over, snatching the towel and throwing it aside to lick the water from her.

Sarah thought about how he carried her to her room. Neither of them touched a light. Neither of them payed any attention to anything other than each other.

Later she knew she would dream of how tightly they held on to each other through out those few hours.

As Sarah's gaze watched the sun light filling the room as day broke, she knew she wouldn’t cry anymore. She wasn’t as lonely as she had thought. He was still alive, running, hiding, surviving.

Most of all, Bryce still loved Sarah. He loved her just as much as she loved him. Now though they had something to hold on to; now they had fresh feelings. They both had memories to tide them over until they touched again.

Until then, Sarah had her job; she had her mission. She also had her new friends.

Just the thought of her quirky, full life had her jumping out of bed to ready for the day that morning with a smile on her face.

As she readied for work Sarah kept pausing when thinking of the people in her life now. First, there was Chuck and Casey. Those two obviously needed the most help. They seemed so lonely all the time, with the tension that filled the space in between them becoming more tense every day they worked together. Which, was every day.

Then, there was Ellie and Captain Awesome who couldn’t be together as long as Chuck wasn’t happy. Ellie was a loyal sister and Devon was more supportive than any one could hope for. But there was something lacking in their relationship. Sarah knew it was something to look into. At least it was something she could spend her spare time on to keep from missing Bryce so much.

Then Sarah laughed as she thought of the little nerds at Chuck's work. All his co-workers who had their own personal lives filled with geeky movies, Gothic references, and sexual fantasies. Especially Chuck's best friends Morgan....hmmm.......

The thought of Morgan actually stopped her in her tracks before she opened her door. Sarah thought back to an encounter that just wouldn't leave her mind. She had caught the sly little looks that had gone on, she had even gotten a little post card that funny enough hadn't mentioned Chuck or Casey, but had instead asked about Morgan. She had been wondering just how forced her friend had been when agreeing to the double date….maybe….

Sara’s grin widened as she exited her home and locked the door behind her. Throwing her keys into the air and whistling a little tune she caught them with a snatch as they came down. She smiled openly wondering just how she might be able to rig things to bring her friend back into town.

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From a distance Bryce looked through his binoculars. He saw her walk towards her life laughing out loud, smiling. He hadn't been able to take the frowns that had lately been plastered on her face when no one was around her. Seeing her, touching her, being with Sarah was more than risky. Looking back on last night Bryce knew he had no choice in the matter.

Placing his binoculars back into his small bag at his side, he turned away whistling. He started tossing his keys to catch them in the air with a skip in his step. Bryce forced a smile on his face as he walked away.

He stopped the on coming tremble he felt at leaving her, but knew he would return again soon. Until then he would live, eat, watch her, and figure his next move.

In front of him a large school bus slowly pulled away carrying a large load of laughing hollering kids towards their future. He bit his tongue at that thought. For most of those kids a future would be cold and hard. Only a select few would see anything but agony through their adult lives. It made Bryce wonder why anyone would be so cruel as to have children at all.

As Bryce walked towards the car, he saw his partner perched on the hood with two cups in each hand. He flinched a little thinking of her anger at him stealing her favorite car, but didn’t let his step falter as he neared her. Bryce stood in front of her boldly, with a foot in between them and the sun cresting the hills around them. His legs braced to fight, Bryce waited for her to move. What was to happen, Bryce hadn’t a clue but either way he was resolved to receive his but whooping with as much a cavalier attitude as he could muster.

Bryce hid a surprised jump when his partner slid from the hood to offer him a coffee. When he reached for the coffee he fought for control, keeping his shaking inward. Bryce did everything he could think of to hide his amazement. Mostly, Bryce kept his feelings inside by glaring at the spot she moved from and biting his tongue.

She stood in front of him. Her long brown hair was pulled into a bun at her nape with a blade. Most people might think it decorative; Bryce knew it was real and perfectly weighted for long throws. She wore a simple red tank with her loose fitted leather pants. Bryce could begin to guess how much they cost fitting enough to show her curves while being loose enough to do the aerobics that her job called for. Her heeled leather boots peeked from underneath her pants.

Her manicured fingers went from her hip to settle into a relaxed position in front of his face to accept her keys.  “Well,” she said waiting.

Bryce wondered at this. Her cavalier attitude often set him off guard. She thought so much like him at times he didn’t know to be angry or accepting. Often it made their relationship a little harder but at the end of the day they were always closer, like partners instead of two people thrown together protecting or keeping secrets.

When she slide from the hood, her pants buffed the cherry red paint on the Jaguar she loved so much. His eyes stayed trained on the shiny paint. Bryce wondered briefly if he would have to ask to drive. His patience was rewarded and Bryce grinned openly when she threw up her hand in submission. He looked up to see her roll her eyes and snorted in a very masculine way. Her comical expression contrasted with the sultry make-up she wore. His grin almost broke into a laugh as she stomped around to the passenger side of the car.

His fingers pressed the buttons to open the doors and they simultaneously slid into the leather seats. He put the keys in but wanted to get any fighting done before they started to drive.

“I knew you’d find me…” Bryce started but she cut him off with a sharp wave of her hand before he started up the car.

“Whatever, you knew it and you counted on it. Anyways, I don’t care. I don’t want any apologies. They’re a waste of time. If I have to take planes, taxis, buses, or have to walk cross country…I forgive you, but never, ever, ever talk while starting my baby.” She grinned at him, “I love the way she purrs when first turned on.” Bryce blushed brightly.

She knew where he had been. She knew what he had been doing. Her open laugh at the change in his expression from chagrin to embarrassment lent into a full throat laughter that relieved all tension and let him know all was forgiven.

Bryce turned the key and Faith lazily propped her feet up on the dash as she savored the rest of her coffee in peace. With no more discussion, they headed home.

"Don't sweat it sweets," Faith said cleaning her nails, "it isn't me you should be worried about," her eyes remained stoically focused on the knife in her hands. Almost against his will, Bryce found him staring at the flash of daylight reflected off of the gleaming blade in her hands. He'd seen many an agent attempt that little intimidation trick, the casual cleaning of fingernails with a knife. It had never had an effect on Bryce. He could truthfully attest that watching Faith perform the little task he wasn't scared, but fascinated. He'd only met one other person that could entrance him in the same way, one other that was a rare mix of darkness and light whose every movement promised a painful death when their ire had been provoked. And now he'd managed to get that other person mad at him. Shit.

She nodded, a slight smile spreading across her lips, a blatant smirk reflecting from within the depths of her eyes.  "Yep. You forgot to leave a note. Your new keeper got heads up. She called out the hounds." Her indifferent tone was betrayed by the malicious grin that had replaced the smile. Had Bryce been a lesser man, he'd have gulped loudly, perhaps he would have swore, he probably would have gone into hiding. However, he wasn't a lesser man. No. Instead he started the car, staring intently at the road.

Faith's laugh exploded, breaking the short silence, and Bryce could only think it was unfair that his life had taken this direction at times. Not only did he have a keeper, but his partner could read him too well.

Shit.

He wondered if it was too late to go into hiding. Antarctica was supposed to be nice this time of year.