Chuck Bartowski

     That brought out a laugh, her nose scrunching up fondly. She wasn’t sure if that was even possible, but it was nice to think their daughter might take after her in some way or another. She didn’t exactly want her to end up being anything spy adjacent, but a little mixture of the two of them would be perfect. It was exciting to imagine what might be going down in that particular room in the coming months. “Not sure how easy it’ll be for us to get a babysitter if our daughter is some kind of baby ninja,” she mused, running her fingers over the arm of the chair. “I think that might even put Ellie off.”

It definitely wasn’t something she should say out loud at all, let alone in public, but it was hard to control her emotions when she was so angry, so confused, trying to deal with information she never expected to get. Ellie was an intelligent woman, and she definitely wouldn’t want to get her little brother in any kind of trouble (especially given that he was already in the worst trouble possible), but it wasn’t easy to hold back. “I know. Look, Chuck…I know you didn’t ask for this, I get that, I appreciate that, and I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at them. For…for doing this, and for not letting you get out of this,” she hissed. “How is this fair? How is this legal?”

He’d asked himself that same question so many times and came back with the same answer - that was why he was a secret. But there was good too, wasn’t there? He’d saved lives! Him! Ordinary Chuck Bartowski had saved people’s lives. But that seemed shadowed by seeing how distraught it made his sister. 

   As much as Morgan recs might be an interesting experience, she wasn’t sure if they were something to pick for a date. She knew fine well Chuck’s best friend didn’t go on many of those, and he likely wouldn’t have many date recommendations. Ambiance and twinkle lights sounded like a far more romantic plan that whatever strange dive Morgan might have suggested. “I’m thinking ambiance and twinkle lights…if that’s alright with you?”

  Seriously? That was a real question he was asking? How was she even supposed to answer, what kind of thing was she supposed to say? Sarah hesitated for a moment, a little more caught off guard than she was used to being. The last time she’d felt this way had been outside the Wienerlicious, when their conversation had unintentionally turned to innuendo. This never seemed to be an easy path to tread with Chuck. “Well, uh, you know…the where, the how long, the, um. The. Positions.”

     This could not be happening, and yet it very clearly was. All this time trying to keep Chuck safe, and it was very clearly going to end here. Injured as they both were, there was absolutely nothing she could do to keep him safe, she was powerless, and quite honestly, terrified. They’d never get the chance to tell each other how they felt; he’d never get the chance to get the Intersect out of his head, and she’d never get to move on, knowing he was alright, breaking her own heart in the process. Whoever was out there, whatever they were doing? Maybe it wasn’t about them, but Sarah somehow doubted if that could even be possible. Someone had to be looking for them, and given that they couldn’t really run or fight back, they were inching ever closer to getting caught. The closet might just be their only option. “I think it’s our only plan…” she agreed, inching closer towards it. “Can you manage crawling over there?”

    He didn’t have much choice, but he also wasn’t entirely sure that he had the energy left. Only desperate thirst had driven him over to the breakroom fridge, and even so collapsing back down on the grounds had seemed like sinking into a warm, soft bed. 

   An eyebrow rose, as Sarah looked at the game he’d grabbed. An interesting choice. He was obviously figuring they could make it fun, learn more about all they’d lost in a more exciting format…it might get complicated, might feel like they were just getting all the questions wrong, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, as long as they could get everyone to join in. 

“You think this’ll work?” Sarah asked, eyes on his face. It was worth a try, right? Anything was worth a try really, the more interesting the attempt, the better. “Is it just gonna be the two of us, or do you think everyone will be willing to humour us?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,“ Chuck grinned. Board games and dinners for two. It shouldn’t have felt so familiar, it shouldn’t have felt as comfortable as a favorite TV show on a cloudy morning and yet it did. This was how it felt for the hours that followed, as the stack of game cards got lower and lower and there was, eventually, more yawning that guessing. 

❝ i pick my words very carefully, you know that. i said it and i meant it. you’re going to fine, chuck. ❞   elsie doesn’t tell him that she’s slightly worried he’s going to pass out, but only if he lets himself continue on this road of thought. he’ll drive himself mad like this. she reaches out to break the grip of his hands, shaking her head at him.   ❝ quit doing that or you’ll rub them raw. rotten look for a wedding, don’t you think? ❞

and when he looks so good otherwise, it’d be a shame to ruin the ensemble with anxiety-red hands. this is the most cleaned up chuck has ever looked and that’s saying something, considering he’s always dressed at least semi-professionally at work.   ❝ fix your tie, it’s a little crooked. ❞

“Usually Sarah takes care of that,“ Chuck said quietly, a hand reaching up to touch against the tie and finding that, yes, it was in fact askew. He turned to the mirror in the corner of the room, finding his fingers fumbling a little as he tried to get the loop just right, despite how easily they could work with wires much more fine. 

He had, however, stopped wringing his hands.

“I just... don’t think it’s really sunk in, you know? I’ll be married. In an hour.“ To the most extraordinary woman in the world - this heart soared at just the thought of it. In an hour, he’d be Mr. Sarah Walker. 

     Oh, she really hoped they could still trust him. The last thing she wanted was to have to turn her back on Casey, they’d worked well together after their initial doubts and mistrust…but he was still an NSA agent, still one of theirs. It would be so easy for him to turn them in to climb the ranks, get a new title, a few more perks. Hopefully he wouldn’t, but how could they know?

“He still works for the agency, Chuck. He’s on their side. There’s a chance he might not turn us in, he might care enough to let us go…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “He warned us, so hopefully for now he’s on our side, but he won’t want them to know that. We need to move quickly.”

    “He was the one who told us we needed to hide, why...“ His mind turned, and a sick feeling (well, more than the terrified weight already there) set in his stomach. “Sarah, what aren’t you telling me? The CIA, the NSA, they’re supposed to want me safe, right? Right? So - So if something’s happened...“

    Somewhere romantic…hmm. There were plenty of those, if she really stopped to think about it. There was a good chance she could swing this one — so long as the TARDIS actually listened to instruction. Didn’t always work out as planned. That said, the Doctor would do their best, aim for somewhere that would push Sarah and Chuck together, hopefully for good. It was about time they stopped tiptoeing around their feelings for each other. “I’m sure we can swing that. How romantic are you thinking? Florana — planet of flowers? Somewhere with a lot of lights? Music? New Earth, picnic on the apple grass? Work with me here, would you? You’re supposed to know what she’d like.”

His initial thought - and the correct one - was somewhere traditional. A quiet restaurant in some city, in the 30s or 50s, with tablecloths and candles and a nice bottle of wine. A little music. Maybe he could even be tempted to dance. But all that seemed pale to the life she led...

   Of course, in reality, she wouldn’t be sticking around for long enough to do any kind of job, regardless of what it entailed — but she could humour him. He wouldn’t be around for much longer, after all, so it hardly made much of a difference. “No, uh — no, that really doesn’t sound half bad. Not sure if I have the same geeky expertise that you do, but I know a thing or two about working retail.”

He was really making an effort, Sarah could see that much. It wasn’t fair to just leave him hanging, even if she did have every intention of ensuring he wasn’t breathing by the end of the night. Might as well answer his questions as honestly as she could. “Oh…music. Um, I guess I like music. Everyone likes music, right?”

“Well, maybe not musicians suffering through a career crisis,“ Chuck replied quickly, a smile quickly flashing over his face in satisfaction with his witness. “What - What sort of music do you like?” He was familiar with most of the current popular bands, as well as more obscure selections - the latter of which being what he preferred. 

    The notion of this never ending was terrifying. It had been so long since she was a spy, since they’d lived that life, and though she hadn’t forgotten how, she never wanted to go back there. They’d built a life, built a home, and they had a family now…how could the CIA burst in and destroy it all, without a care in the world? 

“Always. I’ll always find you,” she promised, inhaling a shaky breath, wishing this was all some horrible dream they’d wake up from. If only it were that simple. “They have to stop eventually. We hide in plain sight, and if that doesn’t work…if that doesn’t work, I guess we run. But no matter what, I’m not letting them take you. We’re a family, and we’re sticking together. No matter what.”

Chuck leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of his wife’s head. No matter what. He wanted to wake up beside her everyday for the rest of their lives. He wanted to watch laugh with his sister again. He wanted to watch their children grow up. If the new Intersect didn’t ruin that for them.