Chuck Vs. Hope

Author's Note: Just a quick little fluffy story, I hope you enjoy it. I don't own Chuck.

He reached for the car door handle, he knew where to go. Well, no… he HOPED he knew where to go. He folded himself into the small car, slid the safety belt into place with a click and then started the car. This time of day he knew the traffic was going to be a nightmare.

He left the apartment complex and got onto the freeway that would take him to where he HOPED to go. The sun was hazy and the freeway crowded. He drove considering that one word: HOPE. Never in his life did he ever think of a word – it meant so much to him that he couldn't help but ponder on it. It wasn't even that long of a word, and so many people bandied it about like tootsie suckers. But he knew at this moment he was clinging to that one word with everything he had. It was the only thing left of his life… of his wife… of the one person in the world that made him feel whole. And without that desperate clawing of that word to his heart he was terrified of what would become of his life.

He swerved around a batch of cars that had decided to slow down – he didn't know how long he had before his HOPE dwindled and died within him. He had to get there. He knew that it was the place where it had started for them. It was where his HOPE to be with her had started. It was where his love for her began to take root. And he HOPED it was where he would be able to rescue her by giving her a little of his HOPE.

He continued to drive in the LA traffic. Going as fast as he could, even using the Intersect, he wasn't going as fast has he wanted.

"Heh heh heh…," he chuckled, "I have a supercomputer in my head and I still can't figure out how to make an active transporter!"

The brief attempt at humor made him think of how she would react to that sci-fi reference. He knew her eyebrows would scrunch together as she tried to make sense of what he had just said. Then they would rise up a little as she just shook her head. Her long hair would move like water as her head shook and her beautiful blue eyes would sparkle at how he once again reminded her of how large a nerd he was. But then she would look at him with those eyes and her mouth would quirk into a small grin – the one that she only ever showed him. She would reach up and run her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and say something like "Chuck, you are such a nerd!" But the words would be covered with love and kindness. And as he drove and imagined the scene he knew he would grin back at her with that lopsided grin that was hers alone and respond with, "Yep, but I'm your nerd!" The dazzling smile she would respond with would melt his heart again, as it always did. He could almost hear her as she softly whispered, "Yes, and I love you my nerd!"

He continued to drive, never noticing the tears that were making their ways down his cheeks. He knew he was being sappy and sentimental, but it was just his HOPE. He knew that it was scenes like his imagination that was driving him to get to that place – they were what he HOPED for.

It was the life that they had fought to have. It was the suburban home with the red door and white picket fence that she had shown him. To take her vegetarian pizzas (hold the olives thank you very much). It was to watch Molly at ballet recitals. It was having family picnics with Morgan and Alex, Ellie, Devon and Clara, Casey and Gertrude. It was the dog running around the backyard. It was… his heart ached at the next thought… of watching her hold their child. It was being able to grow old with her. He knew that even with all that had happened in the very recent past, his wife was still there. She had to be – he just HOPED that his HOPE was enough to get them past this last hurdle in their lives.

It was simply put his HOPE.

Lost in his thoughts, he drove as though on autopilot, and didn't realize that he had pulled into the parking lot of the beach she had found him sitting on after their first mission. He pulled into a spot close to the beach, which looked deserted except for one lone Lotus parked a couple of spaces away. His HOPE returned, making his chest constrict with tentative happiness. He turned off the engine, undid his seat belt, opened the door and got out of the car. Standing next to the car he could see a woman with blonde hair sitting in very nearly the same spot. She was watching the sunset and the waves. He knew his HOPE hadn't been in vain.

He began to walk toward her, and after sitting down on her left side he quietly said, "I was HOPING you'd be here…"

Three Years Later…

She was exhausted. The labor had been difficult, but the joy of having their child, their daughter with them both made her smile larger than she could ever remember. As she cradled her daughter, she looked up at her husband and saw him smile.

"I love you Sarah", he whispered to her as he bent and gently kissed her sweaty forehead.

She looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms. It had been a long three years, and there were struggles that the couple still had, but his HOPE had been enough to help her. Through it all, she had fallen in deeper love with him, and had known they were meant to be together. He completed her as thoroughly as she completed him.

She looked back up at her husband, "Well, what should we name our daughter Chuck?"

He grinned, "That is simple: HOPE."