A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this fic! It meant a lot, watching the reviews roll in and seeing how enthusiastic folks still are for this little spy romantic comedy show that ended so many years ago. Y'all are just great.

Disclaimer: I don't own CHUCK. I'm not making money.

Just a handful of hours earlier, she'd been watching him sleep. And a handful of hours earlier than that, he'd been tracing the line of her hip bone with his tongue.

It took every bit of courtroom training she had in her to slip a mask over her face and stick her hand out.

"It's nice to meet you."

Chuck blinked, the recognition and shock on his face still there as he scrambled to his feet, and a grin began to stretch over his face, sheer joy brightening every last bit of his features. And then he must've realized what she'd just said because he smothered the grin and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

His eyes widened again right after.

"Oh. Oh! Yes!" He cleared his throat and grabbed her hand politely. "Yes, it is…nice to meet you too. Sarah. Was it Sarah? Or…Miss Walker?"

This was nuts. This was so insane. Her knees were weak. How was she still standing?

"Sarah's fine. Welcome to the team."

He still hadn't let go of her hand, which was not good…and good at the same time. What in the fucking hell was her life?

He finally looked away from her face and down at their hands, letting go quickly and rubbing his same hand up and down his dress pants. "Thank you!" he blurted. "I, uh, yeah, thanks. I'm super honored…to have been hired. So."

Sarah was searching for a way to make this compute in her brain. How was this happening? How had she managed to get on the same bus as the guy who was hired for this specific job at her specific private law firm?

AND THEN SHE'D SLEPT WITH HIM.

"Sarah, we're looking for you two to work together on this. Chuck's come from a purely tech angle. You worked at, uh…" Graham snapped his fingers, forgetting obviously.

"Roark. Roark Industries."

"That's right. Roark Industries. He's a professional in programming. And nobody in our whole firm knows the law the way you do, Sarah."

"We're starting a task force. It's you two. We need you to figure out how to make this work. It will be an efficient and quick way to do the work that takes the most time, leaving us to be able to focus on the things we want to focus on." Diane crossed her arms, looking very at ease with this whole scenario. Little did she know…

Sarah gaped. "I'm not sure I even understand the concept."

When she glanced at Chuck, she saw he was gawking at her, jaw hanging open, eyes wide. At least she wasn't the only one totally thrown off.

"Chuck, would you like to try to explain it?"

"I—Yes. Sure. Yes, I will." He explained then, and she only half listened. Because the guy she'd laughed in the bus with, invited to have drinks at a bar, and took home with her to have sex last night, was here, in one of Beckman Graham's conference rooms. He'd been hired. The job he talked about the night before was this job. A job at her work. Not just in the same building, which would have been crazy enough. But here in her same firm, and now she was learning, on the exact same project.

What.

Was.

Happening.

"I didn't—I didn't realize we were hiring a new employee," she found herself saying then, turning to look at both Graham and Beckman.

"Yes, we didn't want to leak it outside of the partners, Sarah," Graham said, shrugging. "Just in case it seemed like a non-starter. But Mr. Bartowski is not a non-starter. He's a programming genius, and his ideas are solid. I suggest you hear him out."

His meaning was clear. He was suggesting she hear Chuck out … because she really had no other choice. This was how her work life was going to be now. In a room with the man who she'd wrapped herself around for hours last night. Hours.

She had no control over this situation and it was freaking her out.

"If I'm on this…task force…what about my other cases?" she asked numbly.

"We're shifting things so that you can spend more time on this. In the long run, it could mean quite a bit for our firm and the work rate will shoot through the roof. We could take more cases," Diane responded.

"And make more money."

"And help more people," Diane corrected her partner, sending him a look out of the corner of her eye. He only looked a little contrite, a show, probably for Chuck's benefit. Everyone but this newcomer (holy shit) was aware of Langston Graham's priorities.

Sarah glanced at Chuck, trying to get a read on him. And he looked right back at her as Beckman and Graham continued to discuss the positive impact of this "take force". She widened her eyes at him and he gave her a small, nearly imperceptible shrug, seemingly sheepish. He was just as much of a loss as she was. At least she wasn't alone in this.

But then he smiled at her, and she felt a warmth flood through her. He'd told her last night in one of those in-between-sex moments that he was terrified he'd be way out of his depth with this new job, and instead of asking what the job was or where it was or even what he'd be doing that had him so scared, she'd impulsively done what she could to reassure him and tell him to have faith in himself, and that she bet it was going to go really well.

Now here they were.

Holy shit, what did she do? What did she even do with this? How did she proceed?

"What do you think, Sarah?"

She spun to look at Graham. "Hm? What? I'm sorry. I was listening. It's just that I can't wrap my head around how…how this would work. That's all. The technical part of it."

"That's why we hired Mr. Bartowski, Sarah," Diane explained. She went to the computer behind Chuck and gestured to the screen. "The algorithms he might be able to put together could save us time and effort—a lot of time and effort. But your knowledge of the law, and what goes into processing and researching cases, that's where he's lacking." She cleared her throat. "I could've phrased that better, but you know what I mean, Mr. Bartowski."

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I know nothing about being a lawyer," he clarified, swiping his hand through the air. "Not a thing. I know the law as far as this stuff goes…" He gestured wildly to the computer. "But nothing else."

"Exactly. Sarah, we need you to walk him through what a typical case includes, maybe a walk-through of a typical day in the life of Sarah Walker, litigator for Beckman Graham." Her boss shrugged and turned his gaze to Chuck. "And it's your job to work with Sarah and find ways to use your programs to conduct the appropriate tasks for us."

Chuck nodded as Sarah continued to feel like any semblance of control she had at her job just yesterday even was nowhere to be found suddenly.

The second she walked in and saw him, and the reality of the situation hit, her workplace was a liability in the control she had over her own existence. Where before it had been one of the major things she could actually control.

This just wasn't possible. It wasn't possible that of all the men in the world to walk onto the same bus she'd been on last night, it had to be this one who her law firm's partners had hired without anyone else in the place even knowing.

Out of all of the men in the world to jump into bed with after only an hour and a half or so of magnetism and incredibly easy conversation, she'd jumped into bed with this one. A guy she'd apparently be forced to spend a lot of time with at work thanks to the way her life continued to absolutely punish her over and over again just when she seemed to get a foothold.

She needed a damn drink and it wasn't even noon yet.

What she really needed was to get the hell out of here. She needed to get some fresh air and settle herself. She needed to come to terms with this, get her head right, and then approach the situation refreshed and steady.

"Mr. Bartowski, we have more paperwork you'll need to fill out at some point today, tomorrow at the latest, but I'd like for you two to get more acquainted with one another's strong suits first," Graham explained. So she supposed getting air was out of the question. He glanced at his watch. "Uh, Diane, will you continue getting our new task force set up? I've got an appointment with the accountant."

"Of course."

"Welcome aboard, Chuck." Graham outstretched his hand and Chuck took it, grinning.

"Thank you, sir. I was already honored and excited to get started when you hired me, but my first day on the job so far has really surprised me with just how much I think I'll enjoy working here."

Sarah shut her eyes and sighed. She could smack him for that.

"Sarah, don't scare him off. We need him." Graham gave her a pointed look as she met his gaze. "You need him."

Well.

If he only knew just how true that'd been about twelve hours earlier.

This is no time to be droll, brain.

Graham nodded at them and left.

There was a long pause, and then Sarah burst away from Diane and Chuck, following in Graham's footsteps. She didn't speak until she got out into the hallway and was sure Chuck wouldn't be able to hear her. "Mr. Graham!"

He turned a surprised glance over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"Are you certain about this? Entrusting something of this magnitude to someone who has no working knowledge of the law? Has never even been in a law firm, never seen an ounce of law school or cracked open a law book?"

She immediately felt like a complete and utter jerk. What was she trying to do here? Get Chuck fired? Simply because she hadn't been ready to come into work today to find out that the man she'd just spent the night tangled up with was the new hire at her firm, that she'd be on a task force with him, just the two of them? This wasn't his fault!

"Of course, I don't mean that it was a mistake to hire him. He seems like a good guy. Smart. I don't doubt he's smart. I trust you when you say he's brilliant with programming. But do you think this could really work?"

"Yes." He paused in the hallway and turned to face her. "I absolutely do. You're the hardest worker we have here. You're relentless, Sarah. You never give up on a fight, you never quit. And you are the only one here who will be able to sit there and explain all of this to him in a way he'll understand without losing your patience. At least…not outwardly. Carina would murder him after about two hours and Eric would somehow make it into a pissing contest. It's how he gets with men who are around his age, and we both know it's true." Sarah blinked, surprised by Graham's candidness. "Diane and I think this could be a big deal. It could revolutionize the way this firm functions, and it could make us so much more efficient. We'd have the space to deal with the cases that require real time and effort. If we could've gotten by with just you doing this, we would've but…"

"I'm not a programming genius?" she offered when he paused. She felt an almost lightness in her suddenly. This was the first time Langston Graham had ever said anything like this to her, and it was a revelation in and of itself to hear him list the attributes she brought to his firm.

"Exactly. Anyway, he is a good man. We had a background check done on him and he's squeaky clean." Graham winked.

Sarah groaned. "You can't just do things like that."

"Well, I did. He's a hard worker and he's brilliant. …And he's never committed a crime, no parking tickets even."

"Well, that's great," she drawled.

"Look. We didn't make this hire lightly, and we didn't put the two of you on the task force without some extensive, deep discussion between Diane and myself. Please be nice to him. The guy's a little green as far as the law goes, but that's what you're here for. To translate, explain, teach. Work hand in hand. Be a team." He studied her then. "Can you do that? Can you work with him?"

It wasn't as though she didn't already know these things about Chuck. That he was a good guy, intelligent. She knew things about him after last night that neither Graham, nor Diane, would ever know about him. And it wasn't as though she didn't like him. She did. She liked him a lot more than she was willing to admit currently. Even in her own head.

But what had happened between her and Chuck last night could potentially have an impact on things here at work. She was aware of the tension created by interpersonal…contact…between coworkers. She had no idea what would happen now.

And still…she nodded. "Yes. I can. I will."

"I thought so. Make sure to give me an update on how it goes tomorrow morning when you come in."

"I will, Mr. Graham."

"Good."

And then he left Sarah alone in the hallway, feeling a lift in her spirits combined with a sense of absolute awe that any of this was even possible. Then there was that pesky nervousness. How in the hell was this going to work now?

She'd have to make it work. Somehow.

They both would.

}o{

Chuck stood beside the computer awkwardly towering over his new boss, Diane Beckman, one of the partners at the Beckman Graham law firm. There was a tense silence there between them. Or maybe he was just tense.

The woman who'd practically changed his entire existence overnight had just walked into the room, at his brand new job, and was assigned to be on a task force with him. She was his coworker. She was a lawyer at this law firm that had just hired him.

She worked here. And she was most likely considered one of his superiors now.

The woman he'd gone home with last night, who'd offered to fix him breakfast this morning, was his superior at his new job.

He didn't even know what to do with himself. This was madness.

God, it fit that she was a badass lawyer, though, didn't it? The way she'd talked about how much she'd brought onto herself, how overworked she was. And she was smart, quick on her feet in responding to his quips.

Not to mention, there were times last night when she'd really taken control and he'd loved the hell out of it, but it made a lot of sense now. It really did.

God, he'd really liked it a lot.

The door opened and she walked in, her shoulders back, spine straight, chin up. He pictured her in a courtroom now and it just fit. Every single eye in the room fixated on her, hanging on every word she said.

His admiration and esteem for her shot through the roof.

"Everything settled?" Diane asked. He could hear something in her tone, as if she was wary of Sarah's following after Mr. Graham. Chuck didn't even want to think about why she'd gone after him. What had she said? Was she angry about this development?

She didn't seem angry, just shocked. As shocked as he was when he turned his chair to find her standing there, just as beautiful as she'd been a few hours earlier when he'd left her apartment.

Granted, she was wearing a lot more clothes now.

Shit, he needed to get that right the hell out of his head. Now.

He couldn't be thinking that way here, at her place of work, where she'd obviously earned the respect of her peers and the partners of the law firm. She deserved that respect from him, too.

"Everything's just fine." Sarah stopped beside him and sent him a polite smile. "I need to know who will be signing on to help with my case work, since you said this task force will be my priority. I need to sit down with them and walk them through everything, let them know where I left off."

"Of course. I'll get on that. Mr. Bartowski, I leave you in very good hands."

Thank God.

But then she stopped and turned back. "Oh, and because this task force will take precedence for both of you, just like with any case you might work on, Sarah, there might be work you'll have to do outside of office hours. I'm sorry, but it just can't be helped. That's the job." She shrugged.

Chuck figured this job wouldn't be like his job at Roark was. He clocked out there and that was the end of it, save checking a few emails before he went to sleep. This was a law firm. Lawyers didn't sleep, did they? Not to mention, he'd be getting a salary here, not an hourly wage. "I expected as much when I applied, Ms. Beckman."

She nodded. "Good. You'll be in close contact throughout this process, and you'll need to be able to reach one another when you're out of the office. I'd like you to exchange phone numbers."

Chuck just barely avoided choking, clearing his throat instead. He turned to look at Sarah and she looked right back, eyes wide. He already had her phone number. And he couldn't just say that, could he? Beckman would know they'd met before, and considering the way Sarah had grabbed his hand with a "Nice to meet you" a few moments after they'd both gotten the shock of their lives, it felt like she didn't want the partners of her law firm to know they'd been in…acquaintance was probably the best way to say it.

"Well?" Beckman prompted.

He turned to look back at her. "Oh, you mean now? Right now? Oh. Right. Okay. Yeah, let's…Okay, I've got my, uh, my phone right here. So that I can…take your phone number…" He tugged his cell out of his pocket. "Because I definitely need that."

No, he didn't. He didn't need it because he'd already gotten it this morning. And she'd already texted him the words "Naughty emoji" which was an inside joke from the almost excruciatingly good night they'd had together, a mixture of adventure and intimacy deeper than any depths he could've ever imagined, especially with someone he'd barely just met, and oh God, he was spiraling.

Sarah scrambled to take her own phone out.

"I'm ready for…your number, Sarah. So I can put it in my phone. In case I need to contact you later."

She nodded tightly and rattled off the numbers as he turned so that Beckman wouldn't have a good view of what he was doing. Since he was literally tapping away with his fingers at a blank screen. "Got it! Yaaaay!" he tried weakly. And then he cleared his throat when both women looked at him funny. Beckman's was more of a confused look, and Sarah… Well, Sarah widened her eyes as if to tell him to get it together. He was trying. God, was he trying.

He gave her his number too and he imagined she was doing exactly what he'd done, pretending to put in a number she already had there.

God, this morning he'd been walking on air about this potentially dynamite new relationship he might be getting into with a woman who'd given him her phone number after an incredible night. And now… what did he do with this? What did they both do with this?

"Well, I've got a meeting in a half hour so I'm going to go prepare for it," Beckman announced. "Can't wait to see what you two can do together."

He'd been excited about that too this morning, but that had been for an entirely different reason.

With a smile, she walked out of the room, leaving Chuck wondering what Diane Beckman would think if she knew even on the surface level just what Sarah and Chuck had…done together.

God, his brain needed to fucking stop.

Immediately.

"Oh, my God."

He blinked and spun to look at Sarah. She pressed her hand to her forehead.

"Oh, my God, this is absolutely nuts, this is so nuts!"

"Um. Hi, Sarah." He gave an awkward wave.

She gave him a flat look, and just like that, she let out a sigh of amusement, and then she chuckled, shaking her head and sitting on the conference table, pushing her hair back from her face. "Hi," she breathed, still chuckling.

There it was, that sparkle. His insides were singing.

"How in the hell did this even happen?" she asked then, awe in her face, complete and utter disbelief.

"I have no freaking clue, but it's… I don't know what it is." He stepped in a bit closer and she gave him a warning look so he stepped back a bit then. "I'm glad though. Do you mind? Do you mind that I'm glad? I'm absolutely ecstatic, actually."

There was a shy look on her face and then she huffed, widening her eyes. "No, I don't mind. I'm…still so…I don't know, this rocked me in a way nothing else has. It's just so…"

"Impossible?"

"Yes! How in the hell did this happen to us? How were we even on the same bus, let alone how we talked to each other, got drinks, and…" She stopped there, diverting her gaze.

"Yeah. That." Crap, he was thinking about it again.

"Chuck, we slept together last night. We had sex. And this morning, we found out that we're not just coworkers, we've been smashed together for this legal engineering task force now. It's just…completely impossible."

"But it happened. And we're here now." Something occurred to him then, though, and he winced. "Hey, um…I know this is probably super uncomfortable for you, especially. They've been your bosses for longer than a few days," he pointed to himself, "and this is your place of work. I mean, it's your firm. And now the guy you slept with last night's just been randomly tossed into your space, onto your team. I-I'm sorry. I had no idea."

She shook her head vigorously and put a hand on his wrist. "No! God—No, Chuck, of course you had no idea. Neither of us did. You don't have to say you're sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. You earned yourself a good job, and at a good firm I have to say." She sighed. "They wouldn't have hired you unless they knew exactly what they were doing."

Chuck smiled warmly. "Thank you for saying that."

"I cannot believe this," she said, pulling her hand back and holding her head, shaking it. "It's mind-blowing."

"It is. Really." He chuckled in disbelief. "I am still extra glad I skipped out on that speed dating last night, though. Really, really glad."

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. Me, too." But then she shook herself. "I'm at work. I'm at work." She stood up from the table and brushed past him, putting a few feet of distance between them. "I'm at work."

"Yes, me too," he said smoothly.

"We need to focus. We can…talk…about other stuff, uh, later I guess. But for now, they've got us on this task force and we need to be…on task, for lack of a better word."

"Right. Of course. Agreed. Yes." He turned back to the computer. But then he turned back to her again. "Can I ask? Are you not just…a little impressed…that this is my new job?" He gave her a bit of a teasing, crooked smile.

She seemed surprised he asked that, but then she bit her lip and grinned, shaking her head at him, a chastising look in her eye, even as they sparkled. "Maybe. But I haven't seen what you're capable of yet, so I'll save it 'til I have."

He smirked. "Last night wasn't enough?"

"Okay, enough of that." She gestured to the computer. "We have to get on task."

There was a bit more chastisement in her blue eyes this time and he cleared his throat. "You're right. Sorry. I'll give you a quick overview of the sort of ideas I have, just to get us started?"

"Perfect."

He grabbed a chair and yanked it over beside the one he'd been sitting in when she first came into the conference room. "Your throne…"

She smirked and sat down.

God, he was buzzing. He was still in complete and total awe that this was his life, he was in shock, he was trying to get his footing. But more than anything, he wanted her to know and respect why he had been brought onto this team. He wanted to show her what he was capable of. And he knew he had his work cut out for him.

}o{

Sarah handed the stack of files over the desk. "I'm sorry, Yasmine. Really. They gave me this new assignment now, and all of this is being added to your own workload…"

Yasmine just shook her head. "I was just complaining to my boyfriend that I'm not getting enough of a challenge, and the gods answered," she said, grinning.

"Were you really?" Sarah asked, dubiously.

"No, not really."

They laughed together.

"But it sounds good when the bosses ask, doesn't it?"

Winking, she walked out of the office and left Sarah alone again. So that was that. The case that had been kicking her ass was now mostly Yasmine's case. Sarah would be an advisor, a senior contributor should she need advice or help on any of it.

It felt like such a waste of Sarah's time, being the one to sit in the conference room with their new legal engineer. The codes and algorithms and everything on the computer screen that he showed her for the first two hours they sat together before she had to thoroughly read Yasmine into her troublesome case left her feeling useless. Like she wasn't contributing to Beckman Graham anymore.

They'd made it seem like this was such a massive duty for her, something they wouldn't trust to anyone else in the firm, and she still wondered if she was being outright punished. Were they sticking her in a room out of the way because they were unsatisfied with her work lately?

Graham's words to her this morning in the hallway notwithstanding.

And now she had to figure out what sorts of tasks they'd even be able to feed whatever program it was that the legal engineer was building. A day ago, she had only heard the term "legal engineer" mentioned maybe once or twice in passing but had no idea what in the hell it meant. She should've cared enough to find out. That was a failing on her part. She was a litigator…wasn't that part of her job?

Research and law-checking was also a part of her job. And these programs were apparently going to take that work off of her hands. The cases that came through their doors that tended to take up time and effort but didn't require human face to face interaction or a lot of questioning and meetings might be loaded off to Chuck's computer programs.

He'd said something about…Python? Maybe. It had all been a bit of a blur. She'd paid rapt attention but hadn't been able to decipher a lot of the words he'd used. To his credit, he'd slowed down when she asked him to and did his best to explain it like she was "in Kindergarten"—her words, not his. He'd been patient with her, even when he'd had to repeat things three or four times, and in turn, it had been a lot easier to be patient with him.

She'd been careful to sneak out for lunch with Yasmine so that they could continue discussing the case she was taking over. And it was nothing against Chuck. It wasn't that she didn't want to eat lunch with him, or be around him. It was mostly that her brain was still having a hard time computing what had happened today and she was a bit…lost as to how to deal with it.

Of course she was going to have to keep working on this task force of theirs to the best of her ability, sit beside him, listen to him, and explain whatever she could for him. They would need to figure out how to have a meeting of the minds, even though his was filled with computer codes and hers was filled with the law.

But as far as what had happened last night, and how the new job he was starting today ended up being at her own place of work, and she was the one the partners intended to assign to the task of pulling him into the firm and educating him… she couldn't help wondering if she'd known that last night, would she have slept with him? That was the real question she kept asking herself. She didn't know.

It didn't matter anyway. She hadn't known, and they did have sex. And not just once. She'd lost count.

And of course right as she was drowning in the memories of how he'd felt, her phone buzzed loudly on her desk, making her jump. Glaring at it, she reached over and grabbed it, turning it over to look at it.

"Oh God," she breathed, clearing her throat and unconsciously sitting up straighter, tugging at the hem of her blazer to straighten it a bit. As if he could see her through the freaking cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Is this Ms. Sarah Walker, senior litigator at the Beckman Graham law firm?"

She bit back a smirk. "Yes, it is. Who, may I ask, is calling?"

"Well, my name is Chuck Bartowski, and I was just hired by that very same law firm as a legal engineer…"

"Were you? First I've heard about it."

"I'm just going to drop the act."

"That's for the best," she said, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

"Yeeeah. But listen, you gave me your phone number this morning and told me to make sure I used it so I'm…using it now." She raised her eyebrows. "I was hoping the, um, shock of this morning hadn't…changed anything."

She didn't respond.

"What I mean is … are you free to go out again tonight?"

Warmth increasing in her chest, Sarah smirked and asked a teasing, "Chuck, are you calling me while we're both at work to ask me out?"

There was a long pause. "…Yes."

Well. That was…straightforward. She didn't know what to say. So she just sat there, opening and closing her mouth.

"There's no law against that, is there? You're the lawyer. I just know about computers. I can run many different algorithms and they'll only back up my hypothesis that things should continue after last night. But I'm not sure what the law says."

She smiled a little. "There's no law about that, no…"

Sarah heard shuffling on the other end of the line, then. "No law against it, and algorithms only back it up… So are you free tonight?"

God, what could she even say to him? She didn't know what to say.

"Wait, I'm an idiot," he said then, interrupting her awkwardly long pause. She frowned. "Oh God, there might not be a law against it, but was that in the contract I went over with Beckman this morning?"

"What?"

"That Beckman Graham employees aren't allowed to…er, hang out?" He sighed and she could almost hear him rolling his eyes at himself. "Are there rules against dating? Am I even allowed to go out on a date with you now that we're coworkers?"

She heard outright worry in his tone and it sent warmth through her that felt a lot like how it had last night when she could see in his eyes and in the way he smiled that he genuinely liked her.

If she said there was a rule against it, he'd be sincerely disappointed. And she realized as she sat there at her desk that she would be extremely upset herself.

"There are no rules about workplace dating at Beckman Graham," she said immediately to assuage his fears.

"Oh thank God."

Sarah bit her lip to keep from giggling. "I didn't mean to make you worry like that. We're all adults here and both Diane and Mr. Graham expect us to be able to keep personal situations out of our work, no matter who is dating or having sex with whom."

He let out a harsh breath. "Thank. God. So are you free?"

She shook her head, grinning. "I can't believe you called me while we're both on the clock to do this."

"Technically we're both salary. There is no clock."

This time, she laughed. She couldn't help it. "Fine. Yeah, I'm free."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, really."

"Maybe it was implied in your answer but I'll just ask more directly, so I'm sure. Would you like to go out with me tonight? On a date?"

Sarah leaned forward, propping her elbow on her desk and smiling. "Yes."

She figured she ought to be as straightforward with him as he'd been with her.

"Oh. Okay." She could hear his grin. "Well! Then…it's a date."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Okay. Well, um…thanks!" There was a slight pause, and then he chuckled. "I…don't know why I said thanks. Um." Sarah laughed. "So that was awkward! But will I see you in a few minutes so we can continue working on our monster?"

"You will. I'll be back in maybe twenty minutes. Need to put together a few things for you first."

"Perfect. Can't wait. I, uh, I mean… Damn." Sarah knew he was blushing as he sat at his computer in their conference room and it made her grin. "Is it going to be awkward now when you come in here?"

"I hope not," she laughed. "Let's try to keep the awkwardness at a minimum, huh?"

"I'll try but I make no promises. I'm kind of an awkward guy."

"Could've fooled me last night," she said before she could catch herself.

She heard him make a choking sound. "Uh, Ms. Walker, I'd like to remind you that we are in our workplace and on the proverbial clock…"

"Oh, now there's a clock?" she asked, laughing.

"I said proverbial clock. See? Covered my bases."

"Oh my God, I have work to do. I'm hanging up."

And she did, beaming happily. But then she caught herself and it dimmed a bit. Because she's just agreed to go out on a date with her coworker. Not just her coworker, but the guy she was going to be working closely with for who even knew how long on a particular project, just the two of them.

Would she regret this, she wondered? She'd slept with a fellow prosecutor back when she'd first gotten out of law school and hooked a job at the District Attorney's office, before Graham had recruited her for a better, higher paying job. And that situation had gone sour fast. She'd been able to be professional in the aftermath, but he had not. So it'd been especially fortuitous when Graham swung in to steal her from the DA.

She had no idea what might lie in the future for her and Chuck personally, but she knew they had to make this work professionally. Especially after what he'd said last night while they were lying side by side in her bed, just talking, how he'd taken this massive leap of faith because he'd needed to get out of the rut he was in, and that he wasn't sure what would happen if it didn't work out, since he'd gotten a new apartment and was getting ready to buy a car…

She couldn't let this opportunity get ruined for him. That wouldn't be fair at all. He hadn't asked to get hired at the same law firm as the woman he'd gone home with last night. Not that she'd asked for it, either.

They would both need to be smart and careful maybe.

She realized suddenly what that would have to mean, and she needed to nip that in the bud immediately, so she stood up and grabbed her briefcase, snapping her laptop shut and shoving it inside, before she got up and left her office, heading straight for the conference room.

}o{

Chuck Bartowski was grateful for many things in his life.

He was grateful for his health, his financial security, his sister, his friends, his new job, the surprising and mind-blowing night he'd had last night, and the equally good morning, how much trust his new bosses were putting on him, his new teammate on this so-called "task force"… He was just incredibly grateful.

But the thing he was most grateful for at this very moment was that this conference room's windows faced the outside of the building and there was a solid wall between him and the rest of the Beckman Graham office. Because it meant when he realized Sarah had hung up on him, he could hop up from his chair and do the dweebiest, most excited celebratory dance complete with fist pumps that he was capable of…and no one in the office would be able to see him.

Chuck plopped back down in his chair and laughed happily, pushing his hands through his curls and leaning his head back, blinking up at the ceiling.

What a day.

What was his life?

He had a date tonight.

His new coworker was the woman who'd tipped his world on its head last night and offered to make him breakfast this morning. And that was definitely weird. It would probably continue to be weird and awkward. He had no doubt about that. But they could do this. They could do both. He'd make sure they could do both. They were going to kick this project's ass, they were going to improve the work rate of the Beckman Graham law firm's staff and team of lawyers. And they would also explore the absolute explosion that had happened last night, before either of them realized what was in store for them this morning.

He ruffled his own hair and blinked at his computer screen. He had to prove himself, not just to the partners of the firm or his coworkers, but to Sarah. He especially had to prove himself to Sarah. He couldn't let the obvious magnetism between them cause him to slip up.

But then there was a knock on the door to the room and he sat up straight, fixing his tie a bit. "Come in."

Much to his surprise, Sarah poked her head in and raised her eyebrow, before stepping all the way into the room. "Hi."

"Has it been twenty minutes already?" he asked, glancing at his watch, unable to keep from grinning at her as she shut the door behind her and walked straight to the chair she'd sat in that morning.

"Uh, no. It's been maybe two minutes." She put her briefcase down on the conference table next to his computer and sat down, rolling her chair closer to him and just staring for a few long moments.

He cleared his throat and fixed his tie again. "Um."

"Sorry, I was—I was thinking." She reached over and put her hand on his forearm then. "Hey, we need to talk. If that's okay. Before we dive in, I mean."

"Dive in…here?" he asked, pointing to the computer. "Or…here?" He gestured between them.

"Oh. Um. I meant that," she said, pointing at his computer. "But I guess both?"

Uh oh.

"Sure. Yeah, we can talk. Something, er, something wrong? We're still going on a date tonight, right?"

"Yes. Yes, we are. I'm not going back on that or anything. I just think we need to try to minimize who knows about, well, how we met last night. And the fact that we're going out on a date tonight…" She narrowed her eyes, looking a little pained. "I said we need to try not to make this awkward, and now I'm doing it."

"No, no. It's not—Okay, it's a little awkward. But it can't really be helped, let's be real." She giggled quietly and nodded. "This is kind of an awkward situation. But I think we can figure it out. I mean, I'm more than willing to do whatever it necessary to figure it out. And I think you're right. For now, we should probably keep this on the down low."

She sighed, looking relieved, as if she was afraid it might upset him. "Okay. Good. Thank you. Not that Diane or Graham would reprimand us. We aren't going to get fired if they find out that we're…seeing each other outside of work." She looked uncomfortable as she rubbed her hands down her pencil skirt. "It would just be a lot simpler for now if we're careful and, um…"

"Discreet?" he offered when she seemed to be looking for the right word.

"Yes." She bit her lip. "I hope you're okay with that. And not…offended. If I had walked into this room this morning and some…other legal engineer was sitting here instead of you, I'd be totally fine with telling everybody I was going on a date with you tonight. For the record." He smiled slowly. "But it was you. And I'm not disappointed that it was you—as crazy as this is—it's just that I think for now, it'd be smart to be careful."

"I'm not offended, I promise. It's a good idea. I don't know anyone here yet, save for you and the partners. I don't want their first impression to be that I'm dating one of the top litigators in the firm. No offense," he rushed, thrusting his hand out towards her.

She laughed, her eyes sparkling. "None taken. I don't blame you." She sighed then. "So we're good? We're agreed?"

"We're good and agreed. What time can I pick you up tonight?" he said, a slow grin stretching over his face.

Sarah hit him with a satisfying smirk. "I'm planning on getting out of here by five thirty. Seven work?"

"Absolutely."

She smiled and turned to grab her briefcase. He watched her go into full business-mode, pulling everything out she would need, popping open her laptop next to his. "So. First thing you need to know about are patent laws, I think…"

}o{

"I don't understand anything that you just did," she breathed, watching his fingers fly, a whole lot of crap on the screen that made no sense to her at all.

He chuckled and turned to smile at her, warmth in his face. "That's okay. Sometimes it just happens automatically where my brain connects to my fingers and they just go and I'm kind of, like, a bystander watching it happen. Meaning, I don't always understand, either."

She snorted. "I wish I could do that in a courtroom."

"I'm sure you're magnificent in a courtroom."

Chuck had said it with such certainty, without blinking an eye, that she rocked back a bit. "You've never seen me in the courtroom…"

"I'd pay good money to see you in the courtroom." She raised an eyebrow at the way he'd just said that, electricity sparking between the syllables. "You're a top lawyer at Beckman Graham, one of the most successful law firms in Southern California, let alone LA. I have no doubt whatsoever that you're a total badass."

Sarah felt herself blushing as she ducked her head and giggled. "Yeah, well… I didn't get here by luck, I guess."

"Nah. You know Ms. Beckman poked back in here while you were focusing on other things in your office earlier. And she said some interesting stuff."

She sat back and raised her eyebrows. "And just what did she have to say? Was it about me?"

"Uh…yeah. She said they were pairing me up with their best litigator. Or, I guess, our best litigator? Since I'm officially employed here now. Heh." He cleared his throat as she twisted her lips to the side, feeling almost uncomfortable at hearing the things Diane said about her to new employees. "She said you worked for the DA's office for about a year and a half right out of law school."

"I, uh, I did. That's true."

"You got poached, huh?"

"Poached?" she asked, grinning at his wording.

"Sorry, that kind of has a negative connotation, doesn't it? Stolen? No, still bad."

She laughed. "Recruited?"

"That's probably the best word for it, huh? Should've stuck with that." He chuckled, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head, his nose wrinkling in that adorable way of his again. "Well, so did I. Seems they're good at…recruitment at this firm."

Sarah smirked at the way he paused before he said recruitment. "Really? They took you from your last job?"

"Snatched me up, yeah. Which I will forever be grateful to them for. Because I was very unhappy at Roark Industries. Miserable, even."

She frowned. "I'm sorry. It was that bad?"

Chuck widened his eyes and nodded. "But that's in the past. I was recruited, and even though I have no knowledge in the law aside from all the times I sat next to my sister to watch Law & Order growing up—oooo and old Perry Mason reruns—they thought that my work thinking outside of the box was reason enough for them to trust me with a job. Here. At a law firm. Never thought I'd see the day," he said, whistling low and shaking his head.

"Don't count yourself out, Chuck. Diane especially would never have hired you—honestly, she wouldn't have even given you a second glance—if she didn't think you'd contribute a lot to our firm. You're here because you deserve to be."

She didn't realize how close their chairs had gotten since they began to work, they'd been so focused on brainstorming as Sarah walked him through some of what she did at the firm. The hours had flown by and now they were here, their arms almost brushing, looking at one another.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"You're welcome. It's the truth. You're…kind of a genius, here, Chuck." She gestured to the computer with her thumb.

"So are you." He poked the file she had open on her lap that she was just reading to him from before the conversation had drifted.

"Thank you," she muttered, leaning in.

The corner of his mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile and he closed the distance, pressing his lips to hers.

Relief cascaded through her at feeling these sensations again after hours of being without them, and she grabbed his head in one hand pulling him in even closer. But then she realized where they were. They weren't in her apartment, at a bus stop, or in a bar. They were at her place of work. And his place of work. Their place of work. In the conference room.

Oh God…

She let out a soft sound of protest and pulled back, breaking the kiss and putting a bit of distance between them. She unconsciously pressed a hand against her chest, feeling her heart racing beneath her palm. "I'm sorry…I…"

"No, I am. We—"

"Not at work. Not when we're here."

"Right. No. We really shouldn't—I mean, we need to keep a lid on that particular thing maybe."

"We can't kiss here."

"Nope. No. Definitely not." He cleared his throat, pulling his lips between his teeth.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly through pursed lips, before bracing her hands on the desk top. Her eyes shut and tried to compose herself. But it didn't help when he continued.

"I really want to kiss you again right now. Just…in the spirit of full honesty."

Sarah cursed him silently. And then she opened her eyes to look at him. "I know the feeling."

"We're gonna be fine, though," he said, making a face like it wasn't a big deal and slicing his hand through the air. "We're gonna be totally fine. So we can't kiss at work, big deal. Pfft. We'll just…save it for when we go on a date."

"Uh, sure. Yes." What she didn't voice was that at this point, if she saved it until tonight, when he knocked on her apartment door, there was a chance they wouldn't make it to wherever he was planning on taking her. He'd get pulled into her apartment and she wouldn't let him out again until morning. "You're right. It's not a big deal. We're adults."

"We're adults," he repeated, shrugging as if it really was that easy.

The door opened behind them then and Sarah spun, feeling Chuck do the same beside her. She inched her chair a bit away from his as Diane Beckman stepped into the conference room.

"Ms. Beckman…"

"Diane…"

They both greeted her at the same time, and Sarah pulled her lips between her teeth just in case her lipstick had gotten mussed.

"How are things going in here?"

"Great!"

"Couldn't be better." She turned to look at Chuck as they responded at the same time again. "Couldn't be better, Diane. We're figuring out how to make our…er, respective styles of thinking meld."

Chuck lifted his hands in front of him and threaded his fingers. "Our brains are going like that."

She gave him a look and he dropped his hands, clearing his throat.

"Good, good. Langston and I are going to want an update with both of you tomorrow, say around noon—Gosh, it's hot in this room. How are you two even standing it? You know the thermostat is right here, don't you?" She turned to pressed the air conditioning button a few times to make it cooler.

Sarah felt humor bubble up inside of her and she had to clamp her teeth down on her lip to keep the laughter trapped in her throat.

"All right, well I'll see you two tomorrow. Text or call if you have any questions. Please don't email me. Chuck, that's something that you'll learn soon enough. I hate emails. Just text or call."

"Got it."

His voice sounded tight, as if he was…

Oh no. Not again.

But then Diane walked out of the room, the door thumping shut behind her.

And at the same time, as though a plug was pulled, the laughter burst out of both of them as they leaned forward, meeting gazes, eyes bright in amusement.

Maybe it'd be okay after all. Maybe they could handle this together. Maybe they could have both.

A/N: End of the Coincidence line! Thanks again, folks! Stick around for the rest of my fics I'm posting. I'd love to hear from you! Be safe out there!

-SC