Summary: Down on her luck, Sarah Walker flies to Chicago for a job interview. When she meets a charming, bumbling nerd on the same flight, her life takes an unexpected turn.

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic in the Chuck Universe! I only discovered Chuck in February of this year, and I've been in love ever since, making my way through all the incredibly beautiful Chuck fanfics this website has to offer. I even joined the Chuck Fanfiction Facebook group, and you guys have welcomed me with open arms. Thank you for allowing me to play in this wonderful sandbox, I hope I do the characters justice.

Disclaimer: I only own the concept and my broken laptop; the characters belong to a little company out west and its creators.
All the mistakes are mine.


Everywhere she looked, people were walking with purpose, handbags in hand, luggage rolling behind them. Some looked tired, others seemed nervous, excited, emotional. There were chauffeurs with official looking paper signs, family members greeting each other after having been miles apart, flight attendants moving in packs, important looking captains with whiffs of arrogance in their step.

Right in front of her, the letters and numbers were rapidly changing on the departures board. She had learned how to read last year, but in all her excitement, the bustling around her, and the many funny looking names, the only destination she could read with confidence was the Delta 12788A to Chicago.

"Come on, Sarah," she felt her father's impatient hand on her shoulder pushing her forward. She held onto Bunny more tightly, glanced to the departures board one last time before going through the airport's security process, which had become second nature to her ever since her dad started taking her with him on his flights at the early age of four.

They bypassed the long line of people at customs. Grunts of protest and annoyance followed them, but were quickly replaced with reverence and awe at the sight of the Captain stripes on her dad's shirt.

"Captain Burton, how great to see you again," the custom patrol officer said from his small glassed cubical. Sarah, who was tall for her age, could only just make out some of the whisks of the man's white hair behind the counter. She heard her dad reply noncommittally, his fingers tapping with impatience.

"How's the wife," the man continued without noticing the annoyance that was now apparent on her father's face. To Sarah at least. To the world, he was the world-renowned Captain Jack Burton, who had once had an exciting and dangerous career of flying for the military, and at one point Air Force One, saving the former President from a terrorist high jacking.

Now, he had traded his exhilarating job for another one, that of fatherhood. Or so he made the public believe. Instead of fighting off external threats to the country, he now flew commercial airplanes and made sure he saw his daughter every other month. If you were to believe the tabloids, he was perfect husband material and the dream father to any woman-who-was-lucky-enough-to-have-his-children's children. What these tabloids failed to mention, however, was that he was in fact married. Some speculated that the mother of his child had died in childbirth, others guessed that she was a nurse in Chicago.

Even so, the few mentions concerning a potential wife of THE Jack Burton paled in comparison to the news coverage that was spent on his darling daughter Sarah Walker. Why she didn't have his last name had been the concern of many housewives across the country, but when Burton had explained it was in ode to his child's mother, and he believed in equality, and preferred the name Walker for his strong daughter, America had swooned.

Not only was he able to fight off crime lords and save the leader of their nation, not to mention his ruggedly handsome good looks, but he was also a role model – so it seemed – to fathers across the country. If one of these reporters would have taken the time to actually interview America's sweetheart, instead of reporting on what type of grades Sarah got in school, or how well she and her father looked conquering the nation's airports one at a time, they would realize Jack Burton was no star parent at all. Well, not in the eyes of Sarah at least.

While Sarah loved her dad, she had soon learned not to trust nor rely on him. Her father came whenever it suited him, taking her out of school to fly her out to Washington D.C., Vancouver, wherever she wanted to go. He'd set her beside him in the cockpit, placed too large headphones over her tiny ears, and would ask her, "Sarah, honey, where to?"

She would giggle and name one of the newest cities she had learned with her mother at bath time. Having no grasp or notion of distance and time, their trip would sometimes last for whole weekends at a time. She would learn about the various little buttons in the cockpit, she would laugh and make fun with the flight attendants. At the end of the trip, though, he would drop her off at her mother's, who would scold her father for having her miss her recital, or spelling bee.

Sarah would hide below her windowsill, and listen to her mother calling out her father for his recklessness, and his irresponsibility. Her father would retort with mean phrases that Sarah wasn't too sure she understood. What she did understand was that these fights meant that she wouldn't see her father for the foreseeable future, and her mother would spend the next week crying whenever she thought Sarah was already asleep. But she wasn't.

That was enough for Sarah to know that her father wasn't the best father. And that she needn't rely on him. She was happy with the time she got to spend with him, but if he really cared for her, he would show up at her recitals instead of flying her away to Cabo on the day of the school's play they had spent the year rehearsing.

Yet, with all the mystery surrounding her mother, people at the LA airport knew about Jack Burton's wife. It was for that reason that Jack was rather annoyed when he was asked about said person.

"She's great, Bernie. Nothing to complain about," Sarah's father eventually replied. He handed Bernie the needed papers and glanced at his watch.

"And what about our little miss Sunshine?" Bernie now said, leaning over. His dull grey eyes met the bluest ocean eyes. Sarah giggled when Bernie wiggled his caterpillar eyebrows at her. They liked each other a whole lot. But as always, there wasn't any time to catch up on their ongoing chess match – which was a silly match in which they pretended to know the rules. Jack pushed his daughter forward the second Bernie returned him the papers.

"Have a good one, Bernie," he waved almost absentmindedly, now tugging Sarah along who had come to a halt.

"See you, Cap. Misses Cap," Bernie saluted Sarah who returned the gesture with a radiant smile.

"Sarah," her father said. People in the waiting hall looked up at the sound of her name, some whispering amongst themselves, desperate to get a glimpse of the famous flying family duo. Sarah, who was still rather unaware of her fame, gave Bernie a final wink before skipping joyously towards her father, her stuffed dog still clasped under her right armpit.

While they continued their route with a bit of a rush, she heard the familiar airport voice over the telecom announcing that the doors of flight Delta 12788A to Chicago were closing. She smiled upwards, slowing down for just a second to greet the lady in the sky. She was old enough to know now that the lady in the sky was a pre-recording and not an actual person or voice flying over the halls of airports guiding her with every step she took. But still, she felt like she needed to continue her tradition of greeting her every time she boarded a plane, lest the plane would fall from the sky.

Her father who had never cared to learn about this little tradition grabbed her by the arm forcefully, Bunny dropping to the floor behind them as he pulled her towards the closing gate.

"Sarah, you heard the lady. You don't want to miss your flight."

Sarah, too distracted by the sudden force of her father, hadn't even noticed the loss of her favorite pet. Instead, she quickened her pace, not wanting to let her father down. The gate came into view, and the lady behind the desk opened the bar for them to pass. She gave Sarah a charming little nod, before winking at her dad.

"Theresa," she heard her father say, while she already walked down the tunnel towards the airplane. Through the circular window, she saw an airplane just about to take off which made her stop in her tracks. Her father who had been glancing at Theresa bumped into his daughter.

"Shit, Sarah," he said through his teeth. At the sight of tears filling her eyes, he quickly shifted his demeanor and crouched beside her.

"Sorry, sweetheart, I hadn't seen you there, and I took it out on you which isn't fair. What were you looking at?" he stroked some loose hairs behind her ear. He then wiped away the tear that had managed to escape her eyes.

"You're a big girl now, no need to cry," he added, straightening the little pouch with her travel documents around her neck.

Sniffing and quickly blinking away her final tears, Sarah stood up straighter and reported in great detail to her dad what kind of airplane she had just witnessed taking off. After he let her ramble on for a minute, he patted her on the shoulder and Sarah hoped she was right to think she had detected some pride. But she wasn't sure; she was never sure with him.

"Alright, Sarah. Time to go. Remember what I told you, take ca-"

"Care of mom, and don't be a sucker," she interrupted him. She'd been drilled to remember these statements ever since she could talk.

"That's right. Now have a safe flight," he said, pushing her towards the flight attendants who were holding off the airplane's departure. The people inside, who were probably wondering why the plane hadn't taken off yet, would soon realize just how lucky they were to share the plane with none other than Sarah Walker. But for now, they were still unaware, and grumbling amongst themselves. Sarah glanced backwards one last time before stepping onto the aircraft, but her father was already gone. She smiled at Stacy, one of the attendants, and frankly, one of her closest friends, and it was only when she was safely secured in her seat and the plane was airborne, that she realized her dog had gone missing.

18 YEARS LATER

Shit shit shit. Sarah cursed to herself. She ran through the crowds of LAX airport, grateful that her outfit and speed made people jump aside. Not enough though, as she got tangled in a group of tourists who were clearly lost. The gate of her flight had already closed; the announcement had told her so. That didn't slow her down though, as she yanked her luggage behind her, the wheels rolling around wildly at the loss of friction.

"Wait," she yelled out to the familiar face in the distance. He was too far still for her to hear him, but the grunt he was bound to make made its way over.

Out of breath, she finally came to a stop in front of him, her voice letting out another: "Wait."

"Gate's closed, mam," he said with a neutral face. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, come on, Casey," she huffed away some of the hairs that had fallen in her face.

"Nothing we can do about it, I'm afraid. We called your name multiple times, Walker. Once those doors close…"

"I swear Casey, if you don't let me on this plane." Honestly, she thought to herself. Why this man was a flight attendant was beyond her. He'd do better as some army guy, or the secret service. But a flight attendant? Really?

"What's with the outfit?" he ignored her, his eyes briefly lowering.

It's only then that she really became aware of what she had carelessly thrown on this morning, after having hit the snooze button for the umpteenth time. She had misbuttoned her shirt, and was grateful that her boobs hadn't fallen out yet. Her skirt was rumpled up, and the knot she had placed in the scarf around her neck was coming loose. She ignored his question, however, not giving up on the flight she absolutely wasn't allowed to miss.

"So, you gonna let me go?"

"You actually think they will give you a job like that?" nodding to the mismatched flight attendant outfit she was wearing, not to mention her makeup that simply wasn't there. She truly needed to learn how to get up after the tenth snooze. She had had an alarm clock in the past that was installed to her wall, forcing her to get out of bed to turn it off. One knife accident later, she had decided against such device since she didn't plan on buying a new one every other week.

"A girl can try," she replied.

"Try harder," he grunted back. They stared at each other for what felt like a minute, before he eventually relented and let her pass.

"Thanks Casey," she yelled behind her already running down the tunnel towards the plane.


"Took you long enough," was the first thing Sarah heard when boarding the plane. Sarah glared at her redheaded friend, while searching for her boarding pass.

"Thinking of charming your way into the job, blondie?" she eyed Sarah's attire in the same fashion Casey had only minutes earlier. When Sarah replied with an eye roll, her friend smirked and added: "You know you could have just asked me if it is that particular form of persuasion you're after?"

"Shut it, Red," Sarah huffed, triggered enough to look up straight into her friend's eyes. If it would have been anyone other than Carina, the person at the end of Sarah's death stare would have been burned to a crisp by now. America's sweetheart be damned, Sarah thought, if only they'd see me now. Lucky for the both of them, and the rest of the aircraft for that matter, their battle of ice and fire came to a premature close by the ringing of a phone. The two women looked down into Sarah's purse, where a phone had lighted up.

While Sarah and Carina's friendship consisted of constantly giving each other crap and ribbing each other, there was a boundary they both knew not to cross. Carina cleared her throat, Sarah declined the call by flicking her phone onto flight mode and without any further words, Sarah headed down the airplane towards her seat. Her boarding pass had been right under her phone.

Feeling like she deserved the crappiness her day had turned out to be so far, it only got worse when she arrived at her row. Being the last person to enter the airplane, and the obvious reason for why the plane hadn't left yet, everyone had long taken to their seat and had already grown quite impatient. To get to 14B, the middle seat, she'd have to pass the rather obese and grumpy looking man in 14C, who'd already been eying her with an equal mixture of frustration and lust as she'd walked down the aisle.

Sarah quickly stowed her suitcase in the overhead bin, wishing she had thrown any other piece of clothing on instead of the rather see-through and too short to be work appropriate white shirt. She guessed it was her own fault for going out clubbing the day before an important interview. She felt shivers over her body as her shirt crept up with the movement, the man's eyes following in tandem. Shutting the bin with more force than was technically necessary, pleased at the man's displeasure at the sound, she put on an innocent smile and said: "Oops, my bad."

The man was exactly what he appeared to be, a chauvinistic machismo. Wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible, Sarah held in her breath, and squeezed herself between him and the passenger seat in front of him. While she'd usually describe herself as somewhat elegant, elegance went out the window as she felt his chubby fingers try to cup a feel at her bottom. She let herself drop into her own seat unceremoniously, essentially trapping the man's hand beneath her full weight. For good measure, she twisted her butt a bit, knowing that the seatbelt was trapping the man's hand on the other side.

The pain was visible on his face, and he soon retracted his arm as if burned by the furnace of hell itself. He seemed equally confused whether what had just transpired was an accident or not. No time to dwell on it though, Sarah batted her eyes innocently, while fuming on the inside, as she said: "Oops again."

Not wanting to waste any more energy on the petty man seated beside her, mentally kicking herself for booking her ticket so last minute and having to sit beside such a man for the next five hours, it took her more than a few seconds to realize the man sitting on her left had spoken. She had been attempting to fit her purse beneath the seat, so she had to look up to see him. Even having been upright, she now realized she'd have had to look up, as the man was surprisingly tall.

But before she even noticed his height, it was his eyes that caught her attention. While she'd always thought of brown eyes as dull, his were anything but. They seemed to be a myriad of colors all at once, the brightest ambers and greens. But most noteworthy, they seemed to emanate a warmth that set her at ease completely. Something she regretted to admit she rarely ever was these days.

"Excuse me?" she heard her voice say. Her brain was too caught up in the strange feeling of immediate trust she had felt coursing through her body at the mere sight of his eyes. And trust in Sarah's world was hard to come by. Especially after what happened with him.

The brows above these wonderful eyes creased before its owner repeated: "Would you like to sit next to the window?"

Now Sarah's brows creased. Why? Before she could ask said question, though, the man continued.

"I'm rather scared of heights, and ah- um, flying for that matter. It's actually my first time to be honest," Sarah raised an eyebrow at that, which made the man only more flustered,"flying. First time flying. Not sex, I've had sex before. Not recently, I mean- I have sex regularly just not recently cause gah, why did I just say that?"

His ears turned red, as Sarah failed to hold in a giggling sound she hadn't known she was capable of making.

The man now nervously reached for the nape of his neck, but due to the length of his arms, his elbow knocked into the tiny window which made the blind drop down with a rather loud clack. Sarah's right-hand neighbor – who she'd already forgotten in the short span of time since she'd met the charming and bumbling, and increasingly redder man on her left – grumbled out in frustration. Ignoring him, the man on the left grabbed her attention again.

"Ahum, let me try again. Hi, I'm Chuck and I'm afraid of flying. Would you like to switch places with me?" He seemed to have somewhat regained his composure as he gave her a nervous but genuine smile reaching all the way up to his magnificent eyes.

Wanting to save him from his self-induced misery, and also simply jumping at the chance to create some much needed distance between herself and the creep, she nodded: "Okay."

"Great, that's great. So, um, how will we do this though because as you can see, I've got rather long arms that I am still testing out for the moment, and I must say, so far, I'm not completely satisfied. I mean, yeah they're great for reaching things on the top shelf but otherwise? They make me seem all clumsy when trying to impress a girl," Sarah felt a blush coloring her cheeks as the man before her kept rambling on about his limbs as if they were pieces for hire.

"The legs though, can't tell you much about them yet. I'm sure they'll get the job done if you want to enter in a sprint against Usain Bolt, or I don't know, do some long jumps at the Olympics. My review for using them on airplanes so far… Let's just say they aren't as practical," he concluded as he pointed to his legs that were cramped uncomfortably into the little space that was given to him.

Then he looked up at her, nervous again. Thus far, he had done most of the talking, and he'd just given her a yelp review on his own limbs. That fact seemed to dawn upon him too right about now as he started to apologize when Sarah cut him off. While she liked listening to his crazy and honestly funny ramblings, the man was in dire need to be saved from his own mouth.

"Hi Chuck, I'm Sarah," she gave him a comforting smile which seemed to put him at ease a little. At least, he stopped rubbing his hands over his pants which she had quickly noted was one of his nervous habits. That and rambling.

"As you can see, my arms and legs aren't as long," she wiggled them a bit to prove her point – oh god why did I just wiggle my arms, he must think I'm a weirdo. Ok, no, if I'm a weirdo, he's an alien -, he looked amused at her antics while she continued: "How about I just get up, and you scoot over to my seat, and then I'll take yours?"

Expecting him to simply agree with her, he put on a pensive face, his long and slender fingers supporting his chin before he eventually said: "Alright Sarah, we'll do it your way. But only because your arms can wiggle like that. If I'd do that here, I might accidentally take your neighbor's eye out, and we wouldn't want that," he added as an afterthought, but his face revealed enough for Sarah to understand he wouldn't regret hurting the offensive man on the right one bit.

During their conversation, the plane had already readied itself on the tarmac, and Casey and Carina had been performing the safety instructions in front. The all familiar rumble of take-off filled Sarah's eardrums as she got out from her seat. The man on the right, who now had decided she had in fact hurt him on purpose, looked up and was about to complain when Carina came to her rescue.

"Sir, wouldn't you prefer a seatbelt extender. I'm sure you would have a more comfortable flight like that." That was enough for Sarah to hear to know that he wouldn't bother her for the time being, so she made her as thin as possible and nodded to Chuck to switch seats.

He unclasped his seatbelt, saluted her as if they were on a secret mission, and scooted as best as he could towards her seat. While her plan had seemed foolproof in her head, the execution was a different story. Though he'd already pointed out the length of his legs, she had miscalculated just how long they were. They both soon realized that their plan wasn't working as Chuck let out various grunts of discomfort in an attempt to shift his legs sufficiently.

"Ah I can't- I don't really have the space to shift I'm afraid," he said.

"No, you're right." She turned around, so that her back was now towards the front of the airplane.

"I guess I'll have to man up and face my fears then," he chuckled self-deprecatingly, his eyes revealing his discomfort with the prospect. While Sarah had thought Chuck might have offered up his place to save her from the creep, it became clear to her then that it was equally a matter of a very real fear of flying. She thought it was cute.

Sarah normally prided herself on being very capable herself, not needing anyone to fend for her, but she had appreciated when Chuck had offered her to switch seats. There was something about him that was disarming. He wasn't like most men she had regretfully come across during her lifetime. He didn't patronize her, or see this offer as a cheap trick at a possible date. No. He had been completely genuine. He had seen the way she'd been harassed by her neighbor, he had probably already been stressing out about his fear of heights, so it had been only natural for him to offer her his seat.

"No no," she quickly said. He wanted to object but she didn't let him.

"You have a fear of flying, and besides, I might get ill If I'm not next to a window so it's a win win situation for the both of us."

That last part was a lie. Flying was like breathing to her. If she wasn't on a plane every other day, she was sure she'd die. Ok, that was a slight exaggeration, but the lie was worth the relief that now painted Chuck's handsome features.

"Okay, fine. So, um- what do you propose we do?" he asked unsure, glaring back at his legs. She chuckled at the crease in his brows. It looked as if he was reprimanding his own legs for their incapacity to move.

"Okay, how about this. I um- swing my leg like this?" she lifted her right leg and placed it over Chuck's at his right side. Her hands automatically moved towards the headrest, surrounding Chuck's head on either side. One of his brown curls softly tickled her finger, which she tried her best to ignore. She was now essentially trapping his legs on both sides by her own, and her face had come significantly closer to his, which she hadn't foreseen in her plan to switch seats as swiftly as she could.

The closeness surprised them both; Chuck's eyes widening. She could see his Adam's apple bobbing nervously, as he swallowed. She couldn't deny the closeness hadn't affected her either. A shot of electricity had coursed through her entire body, and her breath too had quickened significantly at the close proximity. Shaking off the feeling, she cleared her throat and said: "Ahum, this is the part where you scoot over and then, I'll lift my left leg too."

He shook his head, his eyes that had been at the height of her bosom quickly shifted back up to her eyes. Her brow lifted with amusement and expectancy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just noticed you are wearing a flight attendant outfit, and I guess I was wondering why you're here and not there," he pointed towards Carina who had gone to get the seatbelt extender. Sarah hadn't expected this at all; she thought she had caught him red-handedly staring at her breasts which she couldn't blame him for, because she had basically shoved them in his face without warning.

At that moment, the plane took off, flying at an almost upright angle forcing Sarah to utilize more of her strength not to fall straight into Chuck's lap.

"Oh, right," she stared down at her own outfit.

"It's a long story," she shrugged.

"Right, ok. Ah, um, so what did you want me to do?" if her none answer had bothered him, it didn't show. He looked expectantly at her, his brows raised, as if he was a puppy awaiting his assignment to go fetch. Throughout the aircraft, the seatbelt signs went off as the plane was now airborne.

"If you scooch over no- ooof," with the seatbelt signs off, the passenger in front of Chuck's seat had decided to lower their seat without warning, knocking Sarah off balance into Chuck. While they had been close before, they were now essentially sharing the same seat as it had forced Sarah's knees onto Chuck's seat. As Sarah landed into Chuck's lap, his hands had landed on her hips in a way to fend himself from the incoming and sudden weight of a person.

They both grunted at the collision, and started apologizing at the same time once they realized the position they were in.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't"

They both halted and then started laughing nervously at the randomness of their situation. It's through the shaking of Sarah's body that Chuck realized where he had placed his hands and he retracted them just as quick as if burned. Sarah hadn't even noticed where Chuck's hands had been, being much more focused on the area she had been sitting on, but it felt as if his hands had scorched her skin, and she felt cold the moment they left her, wishing for his hands to be on her hips again.

Omg, stop it Walker. You don't even know this man.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- ," he seemed at a loss of words, her face so close to his neck, breathing down on him not helping him one bit.

"What I'm trying to say," he tried again, but he didn't get any further as a voice from the aisle interrupted.

"Sir, Mam. Even at 31.000 feet, a plane is considered a public area, so we respectfully ask you to abide to the rules of public decency. The crew and I would like to remind you that a private jet might be more appropriate for this type of activities. Since we are a commercial plane, however, every passenger is required to be seated in their own seat at all times," throughout Casey's reprimand, the situation that had already been awkward in itself garnered quite an audience, as his voice boomed over the plane. Sarah could see people's heads bop up from four rows down, wanting to get a peek at the couple's indecency. The man, who had caused Sarah to want to switch places in the first place, seemed rather pleased that she was being talked down to as a four-year-old kid who had been busted for picking her nose in public.

Sarah looked anywhere but at the man she was essentially giving a lap dance, the outfit she was wearing not making the situation any better, but she could feel the red shade of embarrassment emanating from her companion. As if Casey's little performance wasn't enough, he added: "You of all people should know that, Walker."

And there it was; while Walker was a quite common name, she was positive that the man under her had connected the dots right about now and realized who was sitting on top of him. She felt his eyes burn into her, but she didn't want to have to deal with any of this. She had truly liked him, but she knew what her name did to most guys. Being America's sweetheart turned edgy teenager who was into everything aircrafts and motors had appealed to a very specific demographic of the Northern American population. One that given Chuck's estimate age, would make him the prime candidate to have at least heard of her.

She grunted inwardly and glared at Casey whose normally stoic face was now smirking with great pleasure. Just as with Carina, however, Sarah's death stares had little to no effect on Casey.

"Right, we're so sorry, sir. Won't happen again," she heard Chuck's voice next to her ear followed by the shifting of his body. She was surprised by the lack of nervousness in his voice; instead, he sounded sincere, and respectful. Realizing that Chuck was waiting for her to move, she climbed off of him, and moved towards the window seat as he moved towards hers.

"Mission accomplished," she heard Chuck mutter before he spoke up: "There, no need to worry about any further indecency, Sir," it was only then that Sarah dared to look at Chuck. She had been more focused on Casey's reaction to the tall and dark curly man. As expected, Casey simply grunted noncommittally and left for a probably far more fascinating task than anything involving Walker.

Chuck seemed calmed, the redness that had appeared had evaporated. She wasn't sure what had done it, but the man who had been stumbling and bumbling over his words only minutes earlier seemed to have disappeared for now a confident man had taken his place. He looked pensive, though.

"Thanks," Sarah said eventually as her adrenaline subsided. Her attempt to break the awkward atmosphere that had come over them failed. Great. He must know who I am then, she thought as he still hadn't responded.

"I uh-," Sarah tried, at a loss really. Usually the person who'd figure out who she was would either burst out in excitement or become a major pain in the ass by pretending they were somehow better than her while in reality, they were freaking out about her. Reversed psychology or something. While she could handle the former, she detested the latter.

Chuck seemed a whole special case by himself, which honestly shouldn't have surprised her since everything he had said so far had been surprising. Different. She wasn't sure what it was but something about him intrigued her, made her want to know more.

"Burton," he suddenly exclaimed, looking straight at her; the epiphany making his eyes sparkle even more.

She felt uneasy then, noticing various heads look up.

"Oh, shit, sorry," he lowered his voice, noticing her unease. "I just kept thinking Walker sounded so familiar, and then I remembered how my friend Morgan used to have this major crush on her; I mean, he pretended to be into her father, what's his name, Jimmy Burton? No, Jack Burton. You know that captain who used to fly everywhere with his daughter. I don't know why but they always made it seem like she had the most incredible father, and I guess yeah, in a way he was. Cause he was there right? But I mean, what about what she wanted? I don't know, I guess I always sympathized with her, cause who would want to grow up in the limelight and be followed around in those few moments you get to hang with your dad?"

Chuck had just been rambling on to Sarah without really taking in her expressions. If he had, he would have seen the turmoil that had taken place in the seat next to the window. It is only now that he looked up that he noticed the deep frown on her otherwise close to perfect face. At least, that's the thought that kept going through Chuck's head. That she was close to perfect; but truly, he knew he added the "close to" to somehow protect himself from falling too deep too soon. But in the short period he had known her, he already knew he had.

"Ah, I guess not everyone knows them. Um, there was this flying duo, a father and daughter, who kept flying around the States and for some reason, the tabloids adored them. I think the dad saved the president or something, I'm not completely sure. In any case, once she became a teenager, the tabloids started to target a rather male audience. So, it makes sense that you wouldn't know them. I mean, truly, it's only then that Morgan got really obsessed," he smiled sheepishly at her.

"How obsessed are we talking?" Sarah asked hesitantly. Is he being serious? Does he truly not know that she is me?

"Oh god," he chuckled, "how much time do you have? I used to share my room with him for a bit during high school, and let me tell you, the walls used to be filled with Star Wars and Dune you know, the likes, and no one was ever supposed to touch or change it. But then one day, there she was. Right in between Luke and Leia. Between you and me, though" he lowered his voice, moving closer toward Sarah. He then quickly glanced around to make sure no one was listening. Sarah's breath halted, her heart beating faster in her chest. The anticipation building.

"Leia couldn't hold a candle next to that girl. She just seemed so…" he halted.

Hot. Sexy. Pretty. She had heard it all before. With the media attention came fan letters, and with the fan letters came creeps and stalkers. That was one of the added bonuses of joining the Air Force Academy when she did since they didn't allow any paps or cameras. Sure, there were the occasional snapshots made of her by peers that had made it out, but mostly, she had been able to dodge the spotlight since adulthood.

"Herself," he concluded, his gaze directed towards the little window to the side.

"Herself?" she whispered.

He looked back at her, having been lost in thought, only now noticing he still in fact had an audience.

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird, cause how would I know," he shrugged. "I guess most would say something about her appearance cause I mean sure, she was objectively beautiful and from what Morgan told me, she was pretty cool, you know. Who wouldn't be attracted to a woman who's into planes and cars and what not. I just… there was something about her gaze you know. I felt like she hadn't chosen to be in the spotlight but she tolerated it and didn't let it affect her. I always thought that was admirable. With everything that happened after, I guess, I was always rooting for her to stay true to herself. At least, that's what I believed she was."

A smile had crept onto Sarah's face. She hadn't really wanted it to, but it had. He had. Put a smile on her face that was. For someone who wasn't obsessed with her, he did seem to know an awful lot about her and had formed a rather strong opinion.

During the height of her fame, she had stayed away from forums or blogs, any place really where she could read comments and opinions on her. She had enough opinions on her as it was at school. Funnily enough, while most of America was in constant awe of her, her fellow classmates weren't in the slightest. They didn't seem to care one bit that her dad had once saved the president, nor did they find planes or cars remotely cool.

"Gah, I've done it again," he said with growing embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, you must think I'm a jerk. Too bad there isn't a return policy on my mouth. Otherwise I'd have returned it years ago; always running without filter," he shook his head self-depreciatingly.

"No, no, don't apologize, please. I think it's sweet," she said, her hand reaching out to his wrist. He looked up then, in surprise. She quickly let go of his wrist, as electricity shot through her fingers all the way to her heart; her pulse quickening. She swallowed.

"Sweet," he responded. "Gollyjee, thanks for making me feel like I'm eight."

"Kind then," she said, looking straight into his eyes, her sight never wavering. Her sincerity clear. "I'm just not used to hearing such kind words about me."

There. She'd said it. She held her breath, peered through her eyelashes as she witnessed his features change from confusion to realization to mortification.

"Oh my god, I'm such an idiot, I-"

"It's okay, really. I- uh, I thought you knew but then you went on about your friend and I wasn't too sure."

"Okay, please, just let me jump out of this plane right now, save us both the embarrassment."

"Chuck," she said seriously, this time holding onto his wrist as she spoke.

"I meant what I said. There's a lot that has been said about me, in the tabloids, behind my back or to my face. There aren't many people who have said what you just said." He winced, but she continued.

"It's a good thing, Chuck. Most people who realize who I am treat me like I'm a doll, an image to look and gawk at. Like I'm not even a real person. They don't care about what I think or feel, all they want to do is stare, or tell me how great my father was. Or which outfits they liked on me as a kid, or which outfits they didn't like when I was a teenager, or they want to know why I'm no longer in the public eye. It's refreshing to hear something other than that for a change," she concluded with a reassuring smile.

"So, please, don't feel stupid or beat yourself up for it. Truly," she added as he still seemed unconvinced and more than a tad embarrassed.

"Just be yourself, you're great at that. Runny mouth and long limbs included," she tried again, finally getting the wanted result.

"Hah, good one," he smirked, the tension dissipating.


"So wait, you call him Captain Awesome?" Sarah laughed as she walked towards the front of the plane, Chuck right behind her. They'd talked during the remainder of the flight, interrupted only once when their neighbor had requested to be seated elsewhere due to the "noise nuisance," as he'd called it. Carina had rolled her eyes and winked at Sarah when escorting the man to a free seat in front. Chuck had loudly stretched his arms with a content sigh, claiming that his legs were approved after all given the space that had been freed up for them.

"Yeah, wait till you meet him; everything he does is awesome. Climbing mountains, jumping out of planes… flossing," Chuck responded.

"That's funny," she looked back over her shoulder to see his satisfaction at her response.

"I'm a funny guy," he shrugged.

"Clearly, which is good cause I'm not funny," Sarah said as she nodded to Casey when exiting the aircraft.

"Is that your big secret by the way cause I've been sitting here trying to figure out what's wrong with you-"

"Other than having clear daddy issues?" She didn't know what had come over her, but honesty seemed to spill wherever Chuck was involved. The corners of Chuck's mouth lifted a few inches as he came to walk beside her following the long mass of people towards the airport's arrival hall.

"That could also be it, but I was thinking either she is a cannibal or she's really not that funny and I was pulling for cannibal cause I'd never met one before," he continued.

Sarah chuckled and came to a halt in the arrival hall. "I like you Chuck," she said, smiling up towards his twinkling eyes.

He returned her smile, coming to a stop too.

People behind them were shuffling passed them with annoyance for the poorly chosen spot in the middle of the entryway that was blocking most other passengers.

"So anyway," Chuck cleared his throat. He was about to say something when Sarah's phone interjected. They both looked down at the interruption in question, the name Bryce glaring at the both of them.

"Ah, you should probably get that," Chuck said as he felt his stomach sink. He had been working his way up to asking her out for the past two hours and a half, and while a male name on her phone didn't mean anything - it could simply be her brother, or her boss, or a colleague, he mused - the courage he had been slowly building vanished in the simple ringing of her phone.

Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, however, he closely watched her expressions as she dealt with her phone. While it was barely noticeable, the corners of her smile had lowered ever so slightly, but then she declined the phone call, looked back up at him, and it returned to its former glory.

"No, it's ok. Not important anyway. But I do have to go. Chuck, it was nice to meet you. Truly. Good luck with your interview, I'm sure those people at Buymore - is that what you said - would be more than lucky to have you," she was already looking around her, probably searching for the quickest path towards her job interview, he guessed.

"Thanks and hey, you too. Who knows, we might be on the same flight again soon. Although I don't really expect that to happen- uh I mean, not that I think you won't get the job because why wouldn't you. I mean, It's you."

Sarah blushed at that, which made Chuck more flustered.

"What I meant to say was that the chances of you and I being on the same flight again are pretty slim if you think about it, because when ever am I going to willingly fly again? Hah, but I guess I wouldn't even know we'd be on the same flight if we were, cause then you would be in the cockpit, so yeah," he mumbled off, his hand going through his unruly hair.

"Chuck," Sarah chuckled softly, trying to grab his attention from his spiral.

"Yeah?" He looked up, almost perplexed she was still standing in front of him.

"If we ever are on the same flight again where I'm the pilot, you'll hear it since it's literally in my job description to announce who I am to the whole aircraft. Plus, with those long legs, you better book a seat up front in the future for some better legs space, which heightens the chance for you to realize I'm on the same plane if you've failed to listen to the intercom."

"Hah, right. Right." Chuck noticed Sarah glance at her phone again, so whatever shred of courage was left evaporated. He cleared his throat one final time: "So um, good luck. I look forward to hearing your name through the intercom one day."

"Thanks Chuck. You too," she smiled back, and with that, the blond woman who had not only saved Chuck from the embarrassment that would have been his very visible fear of flying, but the woman he was sure to stay with him long after they'd said good bye, left.


A/N: So, there you go. First chapter is out :D If not everything is clear yet, I promise you the direction of the story will become clear in the following chapters. For now, I leave you to wonder why Bryce is calling, and how annoying some people on airplanes can be. But hey, what a meet cute right?

Next on Chuck vs the Pilot: You'll learn a little more about Chuck...

Oh yeah, please leave a review, I'd love to hear what you think x