Chapter 1: Chuck vs. Free Fall

A/N: I have gotten some follow up inquiries about The Debate. Let me start by noting that this is not the sequel. There are several talented writers on this site that are capable of shifting from one story to the next from chapter to chapter. Aside from limited time due to work and family, it takes me quite a while to get out of the characters' headspace from one tale and into a different headspace on another tale. As I noted in my last story, I've got parts of the sequel to the Debate blocked out, but there was too much action and not enough interaction. The sequel will come, but this ain't it.

This is an AU story where Chuck doesn't have the intersect, and where Sarah left the CIA shortly after the Ryker mission. A civilian Sarah Walker and her sister Molly are out for a day of fun when Chuck Bartowski saves the day to prevent Molly from getting hurt. There is little in the way of intrigue, and no angst. Plus, Chuck and Sarah's relationship develops quickly. If that doesn't sound like what you want to read-I'd suggest looking somewhere else. If it is your cup of tea, read on.

Anywhere there are words in italics, it indicates the thought of the character rather than dialog.

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"Dude, you needed a break. You've been putting in 15 hour days, 7 days a week. Do you know how that affects me with my mad work avoidance skills? I'm pretty sure that I broke out in a rash the other day just thinking about how hard you've been working."

"Are you sure that was from thinking about my career, or was it more likely a result of the most recent round of Mystery Crisper at the Buy More?"

"Hey, now. No making light of my favorite past time at so called work. Besides, you know that the Beard makes me immune to all allergies and food issues."

Chuck tilted his head back to laugh. Crazy facial hair theories aside, Morgan was right. Too many hours spent at the keyboard, coding and tweaking, trying to make 100% sure that his new game would be flawless. Nerd HQ Games was Chuck's brainchild, and as its sole employee/owner, all of the aspects of game development fell to him.

His first game had been sold off to be branded by a major label, and was a huge hit. Rather than giving Chuck greater confidence in his abilities, instead he had become even more driven to make sure the second game out would be even better and bug free. He was determined to show that Nerd HQ would be a force to be reckoned with in the world of gaming. Morgan was unofficially Chuck's partner in crime at Nerd HQ, but until they had the funds, he was keeping his job as AssMan at Buy More. If this second game had anywhere near the success of the first, he and Morgan could fulfill their dreams of creating their own gaming business.

But when his sister took Morgan's side when his buddy had pushed and pleaded for a day of Morgan, Chuck knew that he had lost perspective. After all, Ellie refused to take Morgan's side on anything as a matter of principle. Or maybe it was because no matter how insignificant the issue was that she previously had agreed with him on, Morgan automatically assumed that it was a sign that she had finally come to her senses and wanted to marry him. Since that time, Ellie took to an anti-Morgan position by default.

The "Day of Morgan" had started off with a marathon session of Guitar Hero at their old haunt of the arcade on the Santa Monica pier. Chuck had privately wondered why Morgan thought that the best solution to Chuck spending too much time on a videogame was to binge on gaming at an arcade. But the truth was, he was able to relax and enjoy the work of other gamers, getting his head out of codes and onto chords.

They made their way out of the arcade, both reflexively bringing a hand up to cover their eyes as they went out into the daylight for the first time in hours. They were in search of some pizza before resuming their Day of Morgan. His buddy had heard of a new pizza spot that he wanted to try out. Chuck definitely deferred to the Beard when it came to inexpensive food. He was relaxing and having fun. Plus, he may have gotten a flash of inspiration for his new game while playing some of the classics at the arcade.

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Sarah was relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day as she followed her "sister" Molly onto the Santa Monica Pier. The little girl was vibrating with excitement (or was that from sugar after devouring cotton candy that had been bigger than her head?) as she went from shop to shop and vendor to vendor. Her giggles brought smiles to complete strangers as they walked past. Molly's happiness was infectious, and just what Sarah needed.

Her departure from the CIA had been fairly sudden in its development. After saving her now sister in Prague, Sarah had become more and more disenchanted with her work and the sacrifices that she was constantly called on to make. The disenchantment had made her less focused, and the infamous Ice Queen had made a nearly fatal mistake on her last mission. She knew that she had to either get out or get dead. Surely there was more to life than adrenaline filled missions operating under a fake identity?

Director Graham had been disappointed, but not overly shocked, when she surrendered her CIA credentials. He knew that she had become burnt out, as he should since he was the one who kept pushing, one mission after another after another. After the CAT Squad had ended in a debacle, Sarah had gone from one solo mission directly to the next. Over and over with no down time in between. In the last six months, she hadn't spent more than two consecutive days at the CIA furnished apartment in Fairfax, Virginia.

It had been a discreet conversation with her mother from a burner phone that decided the issue for Sarah. Emma had been describing Molly's day at the daycare center, when Sarah had realized the truth was that she needed a normal life.

So, here she was at the beach in LA getting to know the little girl who she had saved. They had gone to an early movie featuring cartoon animals who all spoke flawless English, although it had seemed perfectly credible to Molly. Then the drive to the beach. Molly had a friend in daycare who had a birthday party at the Pier a couple of weeks earlier, and Molly had been after Emma to take her back there ever since. Sarah figured that it would be as good a place as any to start to form her big sister bond with Molly.

As soon as they had walked on to the Pier, Molly had befriended another little girl, and the two ran in circles speaking some language that evidently made perfect sense to each other, but was completely unknown to the adults around them. Sarah had relaxed and just let Molly be a carefree child as she and her new best friend took turns chasing after each other. The other little girl's parents were content to take a break from their role as entertainers to their daughter and let Molly handle those duties for a while.

The game of chase had led Molly further away from Sarah than she was comfortable with, so Sarah had stood up from the bench to fetch the two girls when it happened. Molly was sprinting away from her friend, while looking back at the other girl when she had collided with a passerby. The collision caused Molly to suddenly go sideways, causing the little girl to trip. Sarah watched in horror as Molly flipped over the railing and off of the side of the Pier.

Sarah had started forward as soon as Molly had run into the stranger, but Sarah had been too far away to have any hope of stopping the fall. She dashed toward the railing, desperately hoping that Molly was ok.

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Chuck was listening to Morgan's latest diatribe on why Guitar Hero should have the full catalogue of Michael Bolton songs (despite the lack of any significant guitar sections or redeeming traits of any nature in Chuck's opinion), when he saw a cute little girl with ringlets of gold running and laughing. Chuck started moving even before she collided with a man walking down the Pier oblivious to the whirling dervish about to smack into him. As the little girl went backwards through a gap in the railing, eyes wide with terror and tiny hands grasping at empty air, Chuck was sprinting forward while grabbing his phone, wallet and keys from his pockets and blindly flinging them back to where Morgan should be.

After a few strides, Chuck was up atop the railing, launching himself into the air to get down to where the girl had fallen. His training was years earlier, and his technique may have been a little rusty, but Chuck did a controlled deep water entry, quickly bursting to the surface and heading to where he had seen the girl enter the water as he had raced after her. Within moments, he saw her head on the surface, arms flailing about. He called out to her as he cut through the water, grabbing a hold of her to keep her up on the surface as he paddled them both ashore. He kept up a stream of chatter, mostly to keep her distracted, but also to evaluate her responses. Growing up with a doctor for an older sister had left Chuck with a decent amount of informal medical training.

They soon made it to the shore, where Chuck gently carried her up onto the sand. All the while he kept talking to her, assuring her that everything was fine, while also taking precautions to prevent aggravating any potential injury. His worst fear hadn't been realized, but there was no need to tempt Fate by not being cautious with the little girl's safety.

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Sarah had pulled up short as a tall, dark and curly stranger had (literally) leapt into action to go after Molly. There hadn't been any hesitation on the young man's part. In one fluid motion, he had gone up and over the railing, shifting his body on the fly into a foot first dive. She could see the ripples from his entry just feet away from where Molly was. Relief flooded through her as she saw him gather up Molly and start to take her ashore.

It was then that Sarah realized there had been another man about her age that had been with the stranger. This short bearded man was already on his cell phone calling in Ocean Rescue. She had no idea who Mitch Buchanon was or why the little bearded man thought he should be sent to get Molly, but as long as there were paramedics, she didn't care what their names were. As the one man had dove into the ocean, and the other was calling in the lifeguards, Sarah turned and sprinted down the Pier so that she could get down to the sand and check on Molly herself. As she was getting to the end of the Pier, Sarah spotted rope attached to one of the pilings, coiled atop the wood. She quickly grabbed one end and launched herself into the air, swinging out and down to get to Molly all the faster.

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Chuck had gotten the little girl up onto the beach, and was pretty sure that she wasn't the worse for wear from a serious drop into the surprisingly cold ocean. Suddenly he saw a beautiful blond woman leap off of the pier, swinging through the air on some rope, graceful, efficient and gorgeous. He was mesmerized for a moment, nearly forgetting his young charge. She was like James Bond, only way hotter. The woman rushed towards him, swiftly moving through the sand even thought she was wearing boot with heels on them. She flickered a glance Chuck's way before gathering up the little girl and quickly and efficiently checking her for injuries.

A minute later, Morgan ran towards Chuck, wheezing in his exhaustion from running down from the pier overhead. Morgan quickly called out to let Chuck know that Ocean Rescue was coming. Morgan also yelled that the 911 apparently didn't approve of Ocean Rescue being referred to as Baywatch-but that the disapproval of the dispatcher was meaningless as the dispatcher had opined that the movie was way better than the show. Heresy in Morgan's book.

Morgan had then asked Chuck if he should call Ellie. Chuck could have sworn that for the briefest moment, the beautiful blonde Valkyrie had gone rigid before resuming her examination of the little girl.

"Morgan, you do not need to call Ellie. I'm not dead or even injured, but if Ellie finds out that you went into my contacts and copied down her cell number she may very well kill you. And I don't want her spending the next 15 to 20 years in some SuperMax prison. Nor do I want you to be dead. That either."

Chuck cocked his head to the side as he took in the dumbstruck look that came over Morgan as he halted mid-jog from the end of the pier out to the beach. Morgan was still a good five yards away from Chuck and the little girl when he practically yelled. "Stop the press. Vicki Vale…No. Lara Croft…No, a mad scientist's gene-splitting merger of Vicki Vale and Lara Croft's badassery."

Chuck ground his teeth together. "She can hear you."

Sarah took in a deep breath, finally accepting the fact that Molly was truly ok. Cold, scared witless, but physically unharmed. She stood upright to thank the tall, curly haired man who had saved the day. She fought back a smirk as she saw his expression turn dumbstruck as he fully took in the beauty of the woman before him. "Are you ok? I'm so sorry. I should have checked on you both, not just my little sister. But this was my first time one on one with her…" I'm spiraling. This is crazy. I don't spiral.

"Who…" Chuck shakes his head. Oh God, she's so stunningly beautiful that I think I forgot how to speak. God, she's going to think that I'm a total spaz. Tall, skinny, soaking wet and way, way (at least according to Ellie) way overdue for a haircut. You know, she's more cute than beautiful when she's spiraling. Spiraling? Focus, Chuck. Time to help her. Chuck shakes his head again. "Easy. Easy. It's okay. It's just that it has been a little while since I've had to do that." He turns to look at the height of the pier where he had jumped, gulping audibly. "Well, I've never actually had to do that." He gestured toward the pier he had just leapt from. "But it's been a while since I've had to go in the water after somebody. But, to belatedly answer your question, I'm fine. And so is…I don't even know your name, sweetie." Chuck said as he turned to Molly, a welcoming smile crossing his face as he looked at her. Something in Sarah's stomach lurched at the sight.

"So," Sarah noted, "you've done this before? Or at least something like this?" Just how often are civilians called on to rescue complete strangers in LA?

"Well, I did a little life guarding during the summers in high school and again at college as a part time job to help with my scholarship. But the last time I had to go in the water was when I met up with my friend Morgan and some of his co-workers here at the beach. This one guy, who was actually always a jerk to me-even the next day after I saved his butt. Well, not just to me. Pretty much to everyone who worked in the store too. That night he had too many beers and wandered out into the ocean. He got caught up in a rip tide and had no clue what to do. I had to go in and get him back to shore. Now that I think about it, the guy may have been so drunk that he didn't even remember anything the next day. I wasn't looking for thanks. Especially not from that jerk."

Sarah tilted her head back and laughed out loud. "Well, I'm sure that Ms. Molly will never be a jerk to you." It's the seesaw of emotions from the fear from Molly falling to the relief that she was safe. That's why I'm feeling like this about some guy that I don't even know. Right? Must be right. I'm not sure exactly why it has to be right, or even logical, but it does.

Morgan overcame his awe over Sarah's beauty and rushed up to Chuck's side to make sure that he was ok. "Chuck! Buddy, what's your name Chuck?"

"Seriously? You just said my name twice and you want me to say it back to you?" Chuck said as he rolled his eyes at his good intentioned but clearly clueless friend.

Morgan was undeterred by the logic that Chuck presented. "What day is it? What is the name of the third grade teacher who you totally had a crush on? Talk to me Goose." Rather than respond to Morgan, Chuck did a perfect re-enactment of the Picard Face Palm. "Dude, does your head hurt? You haven't even told me your name. You must not remember. Do you have amnesia? Wait, if you do have amnesia would you even be able to remember that you have it? Or would the amnesia wipe out any memory of not having memory? Ellie! I should call Ellie."

Sarah's breath suddenly hitched at the name. Who in the hell is this Ellie? Girlfriend? Wife?

"Oh God," Chuck murmured into the palm of his hand. "Kill me now."

Morgan instantly looked grief-stricken. "No, no, no! Oh, man. The pain must be brutal. Chuck, don't go into the light! Don't do it man. Don't give up. Think of Ellie. Stay strong for Ellie."

There's that Ellie woman again, Sarah mentally groused as she tried to focus her attention on her sister. She's got to be important to Chuck. Reason for living-important to him. So why was he looking at me like that if he has someone that important in his life? Not that I minded him looking at me like…Focus Sarah!

"Although," Morgan continued as he shifted his gaze skyward while scratching his beard, "if you go, I promise to be there always for Ellie. A shoulder to cry on. Provide comfort to her during the long, cold winter nights."

Suddenly it seemed as if Chuck's death (even if he appeared to be in perfect health) wouldn't be so sad to Morgan. That seems like an awfully intimate and inappropriate way to be speaking of a man's…significant other?...especially directly to his face.

"Buddy," Chuck said in a resigned tone, a far cry from the outraged one that Sarah had anticipated. "First, I'm not dying. Second, you know that Ellie has Awesome for any support that she needs. Third, you also know that even if I were to suddenly die, my sister has made it perfectly clear over and over aaaaaaaand over again for the last 14 years that she will never give you the time of day, much less date you. Abundantly clear, one could go far as to say."

Sarah laughed out loud before she could catch herself. She wasn't sure if it was the description of just how impossible this bearded guy's dreams were, or relief (that she didn't even want to acknowledge to herself) over the fact that the mystery Ellie was Chuck's sister. Sarah turned a shade of pink as both men turned to look at her. The pinkish dusting to their cheeks made it clear that they had momentarily forgotten that Sarah was in the same spot as where they were while having this rather awkward conversation. "Well, gentlemen," Sarah murmured "it seems the cavalry has arrived." She pointed over their shoulders towards the approaching Ocean Rescue vehicles that were speeding across the sand towards their spot at the bottom of the pier. Sarah turned back to Chuck once more, "Thank you again for saving Molly. That was pretty incredible of you."

Sarah leaned over and brushed her lips on his cheek before draping an arm over Molly's shoulders and walking her towards the arriving medical team. She focused on placing one foot in front of the other, while trying desperately to not focus on how Chuck smelled up close-especially with the salty tang of the ocean clinging to his skin-or on how her lips continued to tingling from their brief contact with Chuck's skin. She willed herself to not look back over her shoulder at him. Despite how badly she wanted to sneak a look.

"It wasn't anything big," Chuck called out to her retreating form, incredibly desirous of having her stay around, at least just a little bit longer.

"Really," Sarah threw back over her shoulder as she steered Molly to the rescue team alighting from the truck. "Because there was a pier full of people up there, and the only people who did anything other than whip out their cell phones to film the scene were you and me. And you went over the rail before I could even get close." She returned her attention to her little sister, who was now the focus of several lifeguards. The wail of an ambulance could be heard approaching. Sarah dreaded the exposure, but her sister's health was the priority at the moment. Sarah needed to focus on her sister, not on tall, heroic men with eyes that were warm, friendly and welcoming. Eyes that clearly conveyed the question: Why would I lie? Maybe that was why Sarah had never felt drawn to a man's eyes in that way. Most men, people in general both in her line of work, and her father's line before that, seemed to have eyes that taunted: You'll never know. Maybe that was why Sarah couldn't stop thinking about Chuck, even when she needed to focus on Molly's condition and how to keep this whole situation quiet.

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A/N 2: This story was originally going to be posted back in early September, until someone who will remain nameless (his initials are EDC) mentioned a Christmas challenge. I thought to myself that a Molly story makes for an easy basis for a Christmas contribution-and the result was that the story doubled in length. Most of the story is written (with some parts undergoing a significant revision), but there are a couple of scenes that are either a skeleton outline or just a sticky note concept. As such, I'm not sure the exact posting schedule, but I anticipate weekly updates.