Five Reasons John Casey Might Be In Love - Chuck - Chuck/Sarah/Casey
Title: Five Reasons John Casey Might Be In Love
Pairing: Chuck/Sarah/Casey (established relationship)
Word Count: 1258
Rating: PG
A/N: Written for round six of pretty_stickers, using the quote: "Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." The 'five reasons' are taken from here.
Summary: When he looks to the future - they're in it.
You don't notice other women as much
In the summer heat, Casey's green Buy More t-shirt feels too constricting, as if it's intent on strangling the life out of him before his shift is over. He can hardly pay attention to the customer in front of him, even though he's supposed to be trying to flog an oversized television set to her. Instead he finds his eyes roaming the store, hunting until he stumbles upon the mop-headed idiot leader of the Nerd Herd.
He can tell himself he's just doing his job - watching out for the kid that is, not ignoring the Buy More's customers - and he can tell himself that he's just making sure that no one's managed to sneak away with the Intersect without him noticing. Chuck has a nasty habit of getting himself kidnapped.
Not right now, though - right now he'd dealing with a customer, smiling in a way that Casey finds disconcerting, and leaning over the help desk to examine the customer's broken cell phone. His black work tie hangs loosely in front of him, and Casey wishes that he wasn't so distracting.
"What do you think?" the woman he's supposed to be serving asks. With her dark eyes and arched eyebrow, she's the type of person Casey once would have noticed and seduced with ease. "I'm still not sure - and it's a lot of money, y'know?"
Now his thoughts can only revolve around Chuck and Sarah in a tight, worrying loop. It's going to get them all into trouble, this relationship.
It's going to end up with one of them killed.
He waves vaguely to the television closest to them. "That one," he says with a sparse glance towards it. "It's good. You'll like it."
And yet his eyes remain locked on the Intersect, wondering how on earth he allowed his professionalism to be eroded away by nothing more than bright eyes and a quick wit.
*
You love spending time with them
It quickly becomes apparent that Chuck quite literally never shuts up. Even with his head on Casey's bare chest as Sarah lies spooned behind with an arm around his waist he's still talking. He's lazily slurring on and on about desert islands and sunburn. Casey thinks he might be referring back to a conversation they'd had earlier in the evening, but he can't be sure. He hadn't been paying attention.
His fingers stroke back and forth over Chuck's bicep; he's certain that he should be irritated by the constant dribble of speech, but he finds himself smiling instead. Not a huge, beaming, idiotic smile like Morgan would probably burst into. It's small and contained, but for him that's like an ear-to-ear grin while squealing.
His eyes connect with Sarah's on the other side of Chuck, the amusement glinting there too. They hold the moment, brought closer by the talkative man thrown into their lives. She presses her lips to Chuck's shoulder blade, gentle and careful. "We should get some sleep, Chuck," she advises, and with a rumpled groan he seems to comply.
They settle down into the bed together: two agents protecting their charge and two lovers holding a third.
*
You don't mind compromising sometimes
"Casey!" Sarah snaps, with no attempt to hide the malice in her voice.
The footsteps of the men Chuck flashed on are running quickly in the opposite direction - Casey's gun is drawn and ready. If I go now… he thinks, If I run… He could catch them, stop them, prevent this mess before it got too bad - but Sarah's eyes are blazing at him from where she's crouched next to Chuck on the ground.
"I'm fine!" Chuck protests, with a wheezing groan in his voice. Casey can still remember the mind-numbing fear that took over him when Chuck was spotted and attacked. They're just lucky they managed to intervene before the target drew his gun. "Go! C'mon, go. You'll lose them."
"Casey," Sarah growls, ignoring Chuck's protests. Chuck's probably right - he's probably fine, barring a few horrible bruises and a black eye. "Get back here. Now. Chuck is more important."
The Intersect is more important, that's what they're supposed to protect, but Casey knows she means so much more than that - and he hates it, he hates it so much that he feels trapped and weakened, but he lowers his gun and lets the weapon dealers Chuck flashed on get away, for now.
"You're staying at home next time," he complains to Chuck as he kneels by his side, flicking a couple of Chuck's dark curls from his forehead in annoyance. "You got that?"
"Sure thing, boss," Chuck agrees with another groan as he tries to sit up. "'though if I wasn't here, I would never have flashed on them, and if I hadn't flashed on them then you'd never know who you were looking for, and if you didn't-"
"Shut up, Chuck," Sarah complains, rolling her eyes at him.
*
Other priorities take a backseat
He misses the feel of a gun in his hands. He misses the rush of power that comes from pulling the trigger; he misses the smug satisfaction he feels when he hits the target right where he was aiming for. He's a trained hunter, a killer, the black-suited man from the spy thrillers - and it's a Saturday morning and his schedule says that he ought to be training right this very second.
Yet, curiously, he finds that he isn't.
Instead he is standing in his kitchen with Sarah by his side. Chuck is asleep on the couch where he fell asleep watching the Terminator films last night - Casey had flung a blanket over him before he went to bed but didn't bother trying to move him - but as the eggs sizzle in the pan he starts to grumble and crawl his way towards sleep.
Sarah is straight out of bed, in pyjamas and with her blonde hair a rough mess as she stands at the hob beside him: even this early in the morning, she looks beautiful. As Casey's eyes linger upon her, it strikes him that their situation is alarmingly domestic: he should be out shooting guns right now and stopping the 'bad guys' - but he wouldn't miss this morning for the world.
*
You start thinking about the future and they're in it
When he's told to pull the trigger, Casey knows that he won't be able to do it. This is what he's been trained for, this is what his job is, this job is what he's been his entire life - but he knows that, when he's given the order to destroy the Intersect, the only thing he's going to be able to do is grab Chuck's hand and run.
Sarah will come with them, he imagines. She'll bitch at him and complain about the 'betrayal' the entire way; her hand won't stray more than an inch away from her gun whenever he's around, just in case. She'll be on edge and suspicious while Chuck is confused and hurt.
Yet they'll forgive him.
Eventually.
On the run for the rest of their lives, never able to rest or let their guard down in case another agent arrives to finish the job Casey couldn't, they'll never be able to relax again, not ever. Their lives will consist of running, hiding and a constant, burning fear of discovery - yet Casey doesn't mind. As long as they're happy, he will be too. Love's like that.
Just the three of them, running and surviving together. He should be horrified at the idea.
Instead? He's looking forward to the future, and there's one hell of a smug smile on his face.
Pairing: Chuck/Sarah/Casey (established relationship)
Word Count: 1258
Rating: PG
A/N: Written for round six of pretty_stickers, using the quote: "Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." The 'five reasons' are taken from here.
Summary: When he looks to the future - they're in it.
You don't notice other women as much
In the summer heat, Casey's green Buy More t-shirt feels too constricting, as if it's intent on strangling the life out of him before his shift is over. He can hardly pay attention to the customer in front of him, even though he's supposed to be trying to flog an oversized television set to her. Instead he finds his eyes roaming the store, hunting until he stumbles upon the mop-headed idiot leader of the Nerd Herd.
He can tell himself he's just doing his job - watching out for the kid that is, not ignoring the Buy More's customers - and he can tell himself that he's just making sure that no one's managed to sneak away with the Intersect without him noticing. Chuck has a nasty habit of getting himself kidnapped.
Not right now, though - right now he'd dealing with a customer, smiling in a way that Casey finds disconcerting, and leaning over the help desk to examine the customer's broken cell phone. His black work tie hangs loosely in front of him, and Casey wishes that he wasn't so distracting.
"What do you think?" the woman he's supposed to be serving asks. With her dark eyes and arched eyebrow, she's the type of person Casey once would have noticed and seduced with ease. "I'm still not sure - and it's a lot of money, y'know?"
Now his thoughts can only revolve around Chuck and Sarah in a tight, worrying loop. It's going to get them all into trouble, this relationship.
It's going to end up with one of them killed.
He waves vaguely to the television closest to them. "That one," he says with a sparse glance towards it. "It's good. You'll like it."
And yet his eyes remain locked on the Intersect, wondering how on earth he allowed his professionalism to be eroded away by nothing more than bright eyes and a quick wit.
*
You love spending time with them
It quickly becomes apparent that Chuck quite literally never shuts up. Even with his head on Casey's bare chest as Sarah lies spooned behind with an arm around his waist he's still talking. He's lazily slurring on and on about desert islands and sunburn. Casey thinks he might be referring back to a conversation they'd had earlier in the evening, but he can't be sure. He hadn't been paying attention.
His fingers stroke back and forth over Chuck's bicep; he's certain that he should be irritated by the constant dribble of speech, but he finds himself smiling instead. Not a huge, beaming, idiotic smile like Morgan would probably burst into. It's small and contained, but for him that's like an ear-to-ear grin while squealing.
His eyes connect with Sarah's on the other side of Chuck, the amusement glinting there too. They hold the moment, brought closer by the talkative man thrown into their lives. She presses her lips to Chuck's shoulder blade, gentle and careful. "We should get some sleep, Chuck," she advises, and with a rumpled groan he seems to comply.
They settle down into the bed together: two agents protecting their charge and two lovers holding a third.
*
You don't mind compromising sometimes
"Casey!" Sarah snaps, with no attempt to hide the malice in her voice.
The footsteps of the men Chuck flashed on are running quickly in the opposite direction - Casey's gun is drawn and ready. If I go now… he thinks, If I run… He could catch them, stop them, prevent this mess before it got too bad - but Sarah's eyes are blazing at him from where she's crouched next to Chuck on the ground.
"I'm fine!" Chuck protests, with a wheezing groan in his voice. Casey can still remember the mind-numbing fear that took over him when Chuck was spotted and attacked. They're just lucky they managed to intervene before the target drew his gun. "Go! C'mon, go. You'll lose them."
"Casey," Sarah growls, ignoring Chuck's protests. Chuck's probably right - he's probably fine, barring a few horrible bruises and a black eye. "Get back here. Now. Chuck is more important."
The Intersect is more important, that's what they're supposed to protect, but Casey knows she means so much more than that - and he hates it, he hates it so much that he feels trapped and weakened, but he lowers his gun and lets the weapon dealers Chuck flashed on get away, for now.
"You're staying at home next time," he complains to Chuck as he kneels by his side, flicking a couple of Chuck's dark curls from his forehead in annoyance. "You got that?"
"Sure thing, boss," Chuck agrees with another groan as he tries to sit up. "'though if I wasn't here, I would never have flashed on them, and if I hadn't flashed on them then you'd never know who you were looking for, and if you didn't-"
"Shut up, Chuck," Sarah complains, rolling her eyes at him.
*
Other priorities take a backseat
He misses the feel of a gun in his hands. He misses the rush of power that comes from pulling the trigger; he misses the smug satisfaction he feels when he hits the target right where he was aiming for. He's a trained hunter, a killer, the black-suited man from the spy thrillers - and it's a Saturday morning and his schedule says that he ought to be training right this very second.
Yet, curiously, he finds that he isn't.
Instead he is standing in his kitchen with Sarah by his side. Chuck is asleep on the couch where he fell asleep watching the Terminator films last night - Casey had flung a blanket over him before he went to bed but didn't bother trying to move him - but as the eggs sizzle in the pan he starts to grumble and crawl his way towards sleep.
Sarah is straight out of bed, in pyjamas and with her blonde hair a rough mess as she stands at the hob beside him: even this early in the morning, she looks beautiful. As Casey's eyes linger upon her, it strikes him that their situation is alarmingly domestic: he should be out shooting guns right now and stopping the 'bad guys' - but he wouldn't miss this morning for the world.
*
You start thinking about the future and they're in it
When he's told to pull the trigger, Casey knows that he won't be able to do it. This is what he's been trained for, this is what his job is, this job is what he's been his entire life - but he knows that, when he's given the order to destroy the Intersect, the only thing he's going to be able to do is grab Chuck's hand and run.
Sarah will come with them, he imagines. She'll bitch at him and complain about the 'betrayal' the entire way; her hand won't stray more than an inch away from her gun whenever he's around, just in case. She'll be on edge and suspicious while Chuck is confused and hurt.
Yet they'll forgive him.
Eventually.
On the run for the rest of their lives, never able to rest or let their guard down in case another agent arrives to finish the job Casey couldn't, they'll never be able to relax again, not ever. Their lives will consist of running, hiding and a constant, burning fear of discovery - yet Casey doesn't mind. As long as they're happy, he will be too. Love's like that.
Just the three of them, running and surviving together. He should be horrified at the idea.
Instead? He's looking forward to the future, and there's one hell of a smug smile on his face.