A/N: I started this in June, then Steampunk and I put this to the side to work on the rewrite (We're 25 chapters in for you keeping score at home.) But I did post the first two chapters somewhere else and people have found out about it. I keep getting asked to put it up here and I keep saying, soon, when I finish something. Today another author asked for me to put it up. A/N 2 is the original A/N. There are currently only 2 chapters done. Like Chuck V2, it will get done, I just gotta finish some stuff. I need to, or my head will explode….not a one of you believe me. Sigh. WillieGarvin I hope you know what you're asking for…enjoy.
A/N 2: I think TianC put it best, Like you'd really be able to resist yourself. May Your Walls Have Joy is giving me the fluffy feels, I keep rereading the Sound of Music, Chuck vs the Yogurt Girl, It's a Wonderful Cover life (come back Kate McK) and That Which Is Greater and then it all clicked in my head. So if you've read any of those above, they have inspired me a bit, maybe even shaped what is about to come out of my head, and I thank each of these wonderful authors for these tales. Should I even bother saying it's fluff? I give you Chuck and Sarah vs The 2nd Grade Ch 1, School Supplies
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, and I miss my Trapper Keeper.
Chuck stood at the Buy More Nerd Herd desk and looked around. It was a Saturday and things were unusually quiet. Jeff and Lester were doing what they do best, scaring people. Skip was trying to figure out a way to speak to girls, and Anna was staring at Morgan, Chuck wasn't sure if that was a I want you stare, or I want to kill you stare…or both. Morgan was running around with Sam's school supply list, 'helping.'
"Bartowski, I need to thank you again for covering. Harry Tang is the one making the schedules. He's an idiot," Big Mike said, walking by.
"Yes," Chuck replied grinning. "Yes he is. How are things here?"
"It's the Buy More, Bartowski," Big Mike answered, his eyes showing a man who was dead inside. "It's Purgatory full of idiots." He gestured to Jeff and Lester. "Those two have formed a band. Wanna guess their name?"
"Jeffster," Chuck replied smiling. He then saw the look on Big Mike's face. "Oh. You're not kidding. Oh. Oh, no." Big Mike nodded.
"Enjoy your daughter and freedom," Big Mike said. Chuck nodded grinning. "How is Sam?"
"She is wonderful as always," Chuck replied. "Ellie and Awesome are watching her today. I think they're thinking about having one, but since they had to help me raise her," Chuck shrugged as he trailed off. Big Mike looked around, and stepped closer, his voice low.
"Any word from you know who?" Big Mike asked. Chuck shook his head.
"Nope," Chuck said. "She's running her big pharmaceutical company. She signed away all rights, so…" he shrugged again. Big Mike clapped him on the arm.
"There's gonna come the day you find the right girl, Bartowski, and she's gonna love the both of you for who you are," Big Mike said. "She might even walk through that door right this minute." They both chuckled and turned toward the door as it opened. "How the hell did I do that?" In walked a tall, beautiful, modelesque woman. She had red hair, and it seemed to be blowing in the wind. Big Mike looked at Chuck. "Maybe, not that one, she's a bit too much for you son."
"Noted," Chuck replied. She began to walk toward Chuck. Big Mike gave Chuck a look.
"Good luck, Son," and with that, Big Mike fled. The woman walked up to him.
"Hi, my phone seems not to be working," she said, showing him the phone. "Can you help?" She moved her hair over her ear. Chuck felt Morgan before he saw him.
"That's quite an older model," Morgan said. Chuck turned toward Morgan, staring daggers at Morgan for his lack of tact. "I'm just saying dude, a woman as beautiful and rare as this, deserves the best, and that ain't the best." Chuck resisted the urge to slap his hand over his face.
"I was in a relationship with a guy, and he told me this was the best," the woman said.
"He was an idiot, both for letting you get away and about this phone," Morgan replied.
"Do you want me to leave the two of you alone?" Chuck asked. The woman laid a hand on his arm, keeping him from leaving, Chuck's eyes getting wide.
"Sorry, no, I'm Carina," she replied. "I'm new in town and I was wondering if maybe you could show me around some time."
"Fixed it," Morgan said. Chuck looked over, stunned. Morgan was working? Morgan held his hand out toward Carina and she shook it, a strange look on her face. Chuck was grinning. "The name's Morgan, and our boy Chuck here can't make it, he's got open house tonight. His daughter's going to be in 2nd grade, but I could show you around."
"I don't know, Martin," Carina began.
"Morgan," Morgan corrected.
"You know, Martin here has been my best friend since I was a child," Chuck began.
"Seriously, Dude, you've known me forever, it's Morgan," he complained. Chuck ignored him and continued on.
"I learned something very important with him, if he doesn't like you, your bad news. He didn't like my ex, and well, she wants nothing to do with me or my daughter."
"I tired to tell you, Man," Morgan said. "She was bad news, you could just feel that vibe." Morgan leaned in close to Carina. "You know he won't even Facebook stalk her?"
"Do you?" Carina asked. Morgan nodded and made the pbffth sound.
"I gotta keep tabs on her, she's trouble for my boy Chuck," Morgan said. Chuck was grinning at the situation.
"Maybe you should take me out tonight then," she said, giving him her card. "I'm at Mason 23."
"Alright, text you later?" Morgan asked. Carina nodded, winked and left. She got outside the Buy More, got in her car, and slammed her head against the steering wheel.
"CRAP!" she yelled. "Did he seriously turn me down?"
-ooooo-
"You want me to, what, Sir?" Roan asked, stunned.
"I need you to be an elementary school principal," the current director of the CIA Tom King replied.
"But, Sir," Roan began.
"I don't want to hear it, Roan," Tom said, cutting him off. "You're running around drunk ¾ of the time, you are out of control, and frankly it's this or you resign." Roan was stunned. "And we both know you are qualified, or do I need to dig deep into your file."
"No, no, that won't be necessary," Roan began. "But why?" Tom looked at him. "There must be some reason you have me at the school." Tom nodded, and pushed a folder over to him.
"Bryce Larkin," Tom began. "His former partner, a now, Sarah Walker, is working at the school. She received an injury in her last op, supposedly because of Larkin's screwup."
"You don't believe it?" Roan asked.
"I do believe her, and I do believe she's clean. Trust," Tom began.
"But verify," Roan finished for him. "I mean, it is the very definition of laying low. Who would think to come to an elementary school to find her. So a couple of months?" Tom looked away. "This is my last assignment," Roan said, not asked. Tom nodded. "Have I screwed up that much?" Tom looked away. "Does Diane know?" Tom looked at him.
"I had to fight her to get this assignment, she wanted you retired," Tom said.
"I see," Roan said, standing. He straightened his tie. "Thank you, Sir," he said and began to leave.
"Roan," Tom called after him, but the door shut, effectively ending their conversation.
-ooooo-
Sarah looked around her room and was very pleased. She was nervous, but she was teaching a class. She thought the children would frighten her, but they hadn't. This wasn't her first choice, but she had wanted something simple for a career. Not that teaching wasn't simple, but improving kids lives sounded perfect, and for the most part, she'd dodge more projectile vomiting than bullets. She was quite pleased with the night. There was only one child she hadn't seen yet, and then she saw a little brown haired girl with a brunette lady and blonde man. Oh, they looked adorable.
"Hi, I'm Miss Sarah Walker, are you Samantha Bartowski?" Sarah asked. The little girl grinned and nodded. "Do you want to introduce me to your parents?"
"Well, my mom is Jill and my daddy is Chuck but they aren't here," Samantha said. "Can you call me Sam?"
"I sure can," Sarah replied. "So who are these two with you?"
"I'm Ellie, and this is Devon," Ellie said, extending her hand and Sarah shaking it. Sarah did the same for Devon. "We're her aunt and uncle, the Woodcombs. Jill isn't in the picture, and my brother got called away on a last minute install."
"He's fixing a computer for the Buy More," Sam said. Sam looked around, leaned in and whispered. "He calls it his side hustle." Sarah nodded. Ellie was crushed. Big Mike had asked Chuck to install a system at the last moment and offered him big money to do it. He had called Ellie, and she and Sam encouraged him to do so, and they would wait until the last minute to see if he could get home in time. He hadn't and they couldn't wait any longer. Sarah was pushing down her feelings. What kind of parents had had this wonderful kid? A mother that didn't want to be in her life, a father that picked work over her child, and a "side hustle" at that. She knew about hustles. This felt too familiar. She didn't like it, and she wasn't going to let this little girl grow up like she did.
"It was a big job," Ellie stressed. Sarah put on her fake smile and nodded.
"Well, he's just missing out on a good time," Sarah said. She went over her room, where Sam could put her school supplies and that's when she found out she didn't have any yet.
"Chuck was getting them today, but he hadn't gotten home with them before the install," Ellie explained. "Can she bring them the first day?"
"That is absolutely fine," Sarah said. She wondered if there was an install. She wondered if these two were covering, and would have to go out and buy supplies for Sam. Sam, the little girl's name was Sam, and it hit Sarah, hard. That had been her name at this age. "Do you have any questions for me?" Ellie and Devon shook their head. "I hate to run, but I have an appointment with my physical therapist," she said, pointing at her leg.
"Oh, I didn't even notice," Ellie said, and winced. "Sorry, we're both doctors and usually I can spot someone having difficulty." Sarah smiled. "Don't let us stop you."
"Okay, the other teachers will lock up, they know that I have an appointment so take your time," she said, smiling. "I will see you the first day of school."
"I can't wait Miss Walker," Sam said. Sarah turned to her and winked.
"Call me Miss Sarah," she said. "Miss Walker just doesn't feel right."
"Okay," Sam chirped. Sarah took off, not wanting to be rude, but needing to hurry. She saw a tall, curly haired man, hurrying in, and he held the door for her.
"Thank you," she said. "You didn't have to do that, you had your hands full."
"I had to, or my sister would kill me," he said with a grin. He was quite charming and cute. Sarah couldn't help but smile. "I'm running late, and I swore I wouldn't."
"It happens," she said, grinning. "Well I don't want to hold you up."
"Thanks, do you know where Miss Walker's room is?" Chuck asked. "By the way, I'm Chuck." She gave him a smile, but her eyes weren't in it. She told him where the room was and left. She went out to her car, grumbling.
"He's charming, I'm sure he uses it all the time," Sarah grumbled.
-ooooo-
Sarah drove to the gym where her physical therapist was. Physical therapist might not have been the right word. Gertrude Verbanski was working with Sarah to try and get back as much use of her leg as possible. She also was a sounding board over her leaving the CIA. Gertrude understood what made Sarah tick, and right now she was ticking…like a time bomb.
The two worked out, with Sarah saying little, except the occasional grunt from hitting the bag, or her leg giving her fits.
"You wanna tell me what's going on or beat the crap out of the heavy bag for no good reason?"
Sarah glanced over at Gertrude. "Just another smug guy using his charming looks to get what he wants and screw over another girl." Gertrude raised her eyebrow.
"Are you pissed at someone new, your dad, Bryce, or all three?"
Sarah snorted. "Probably all three if I'm being honest. There's a little girl in my room, her name is Sam." Sarah paused. They had a deal in PT, no secrets no lies, and nothing left each others mouth about the other. "That was my name, as a kid. Before Mom split and Dad started running cons." Gertrude didn't say anything, she just watched Sarah go to town on bag between sentences. "Her mom's not in the picture and her dad didn't come tonight. Well, that's not true, his daughter and sister told me he got called in to do a job that paid big money and that's why he wasn't there." She stopped and stared at Gertrude. "His little girl even called it a 'side hustle'." Sarah had used finger quotes.
Gertrude took a second before responding. She was pretty sure Sarah was making more out of this than she should. "Single parenting is tough, and sometimes you have to make hard choices, like whether or not to eat."
Sarah gave Gertrude a look and resumed her punishment of the heavy bag.
"I get that, but he was all charming and oozed personality. God, I bet he's Bryce Larkin all over again."
Gertrude ran her tongue between the side of her jaw and her teeth. "So he was suspicious?"
"Oh no, and that's the worst of it." She gave the bag a wicked combo, not using her leg at all, and Gertrude was pretty sure it was frustration she was working out…but the kind? Well, that was the question wasn't it. "I mean he was so nice, and kind, and charming…"
"That's the second time you said charming." Sarah grumbled something to herself. "What was that?"
"I said his stupid hair made stupid animal shapes."
Gertrude bit back a laugh. "I bet the jerk is good looking too."
"Not in your classic sense," Sarah replied, and whaled on the bag for a second. She stopped and thought. "He's quite tall, and lanky." She shook her head in disgust. "And so stupidly charming."
Gertrude nodded like she was agreeing with Sarah. "Such a jerk."
Sarah narrowed her eyes and turned toward Gertrude. "Don't think I don't see what your doing." Gertrude tried to look innocent. "We both know these kind of guys." Gertrude nodded. "They use their stupid good looks and their charm to get out of everything." Sarah saw the clock on the wall. "I gotta go, I've got to get home."
"Oh, someone waiting?" Sarah glared at her. "Soooory."
Sarah shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, it's just I hate seeing that little girl that way."
Gertrude knew she had to try and get through to Sarah. "Did you actually see the little girl that way?"
Sarah gave Gertrude a long look. "I thought I was happy," she said softly. "When I was her age I thought my dad hung the moon. I was wrong and I just never want to see someone else get hurt."
Gertrude laid a hand on her shoulder. "Sarah, make sure before you go off on this guy." Sarah nodded and left. Gertrude crossed her arms, watching her go. "This is gonna be fun," she smirked.
-ooooo-
Roan went into his office Monday morning. School started on Thursday and he needed to get into the habit of being at work on time. Of course, he was late, but it wasn't his fault, it was an ungodly hour in the morning, something like eight AM, and he had no want to be here, especially not sufficiently lubricated for what he was about to deal with. He glanced at former Agent Walker's class roll and moved on. He stopped, and went back, something niggling at the back of his mind. He examined the roster closer and found what he was looking for. A name he hadn't heard in some time, Bartowski. He looked up one Samantha Bartowski and sure enough, her grandparents were Stephen and Mary Bartowski. Why was the granddaughter of Stephen and Mary in Sarah Walker's class?
Roan stood up and walked over to the window, and he saw a Porsche pull up. Not many teachers could afford a Porsche, but he had a good idea who might. He walked back over to the computer and pulled up the parents names. Jill Roberts rang a bell. He pulled out a cell phone and made a phone call requesting a dossier on Jill Roberts and Chuck Bartowski. Something was going on, and it might just save his career.
-ooooo-
Chuck was standing at the Nerd Herd desk when he saw her walk in…again He kept the internal groan from making its way out of him. He had no idea what she was doing back…wait, did she want another date with Morgan? Chuck nodded, he was happy for his buddy. If she made him happy then he should absolutely go for it. He noticed a very distinguished man following close behind her.
"Carina?" the older man said. Carina stopped, turned, and her mouth dropped. She walked over to him and talked in hushed tones. They glanced at Chuck a couple of times, and Chuck waved after the second one. Morgan walked up to Chuck.
"Checking out my girl, Chuck?"
Chuck grinned at his friend. "No, but the guy with her appears to be pretty suave."
Morgan waved his hand like it was nothing. "We have a connection my friend, one that can never be broken." It was then the doors slid open and Devon walked in. Carina's eyebrows shot up and she followed him. He walked up to Chuck dropped off his lunch, and told him he had to run. Carina's eyes stayed glued to Devon's backside the entire time. After Devon left, Morgan turned to his friend. "What, he looks good in a pair of pants, you can't take that away from him." Chuck wasn't really sure what to say to that. Carina walked over and signaled for Morgan to follow her. Chuck shook his head at the pairing. He watched the tall man walk towards him.
"Can I help you, Sir?"
The tall man smiled as if to put Chuck at ease. "I certainly hope so, Charles Bartowski?"
"Chuck, Sir."
He nodded. "I understand you are one of the top computer repair people within the Buy More."
"Yes sir."
"I am Roan Montgomery, principal at the local elementary school. How would you like a job at your daughter's elementary school as computer teacher? I have obtained a STEM grant and part of the grant allows me to hire someone with more technical knowhow and not required to have a teaching certificate."
"I mean, I have a job here, its only part time, but it's a job. I also have my computer software I'm working on."
"You're fired, Bartowski," Big Mike said behind him. Chuck turned, having not hearing him walk up. "What? Someone that suave looking comes in this place? Either it was real bad news or real good news, manager level news. I was right, and you're fired, so you better take the job."
Chuck turned back around. "So how's your dental?"
A/N: Oooooo misunderstandings all around….How will they ever figure it all out? I can feel each and everyone of you rolling your eyes on this one…Hope you liked it, reviews and PMs are always welcomed…Til next time!