Yay! I just love this pairing, it makes me feel all warm and squishy inside (grin) Hope you like it!!
It's easy to memorize a person's habits when you've been watching them for a little over six months. One thing about being an agent is that you learn to remember things the first time you ever see them: faces, street signs, car colors, etc. Routines became implanted as well: where people go, who they hang out with, when they get home at night, etc. Everyone has a routine whether they'd like to admit it or not. Chuck wasn't any different; the kid was like an open book, far different than most of the subjects he'd trailed in the past.
Casey stretched a little and popped his knuckles, glancing at the screens in front of him only half interested. Speaking of routines. Chuck had just fallen into his normal nightly one about 20 minutes ago. Chuck gets home every night between 8-9:30, eats dinner with Ellie and Captain Awesome, sometimes plays a video game with Morgan if he'd followed him home, takes a shower around 10, reads a book for about 30 minutes and then goes to bed right around 11:45, wakes up at 7:15. Perfect routine; Casey could set his watch to it if he'd wanted to.
To be honest, there was really no reason to leave a hidden camera in Chuck's bedroom, especially after he'd fallen asleep. Once a person falls asleep, there's really not that much to watch unless they're a sleepwalker and then its just plain fun (great blackmail ideas). Still, when you're an agent you can never be too careful, especially with a person who has every government secret in the nation locked into his brain like a giant memory card.
Unbeknownst to him, Chuck was in a constant state of surveillance thanks to a combination of the NSA and CIA. Everywhere he went, everything he did was watched and monitored through a microscope-like lens. Casey sometimes felt sorry for the kid, knowing he never really had any amount of privacy regardless of how private a situation might be (shower for instance). The older agent had volunteered to watch the house when Chuck was home at least knowing that he could turn away and give the younger man the privacy he deserved.
Sarah had offered but they both knew it wouldn't be in her best interest. Number one, she was still in love with Bryce and number two she would barely let Chuck breathe unless she was watching. Casey at least understood the importance some privacy was worth and took the job instead knowing he could handle it better. There was another reason as well but not one he was willing to discuss with anyone who planned to continue living. Every once in a while, Sarah would seem like she knew and would give him a small yet knowing smirk and simply walk off before he could try to decapitate her with a CD.
Casey sat up a little straighter as Chuck entered his bedroom. The younger man was dressed in a pair of dark blue, plaid sleep pants and a grey Buy More t-shirt. He ran a hand through his damp hair and pushed it away from his face, letting a long, tired sigh escape him as he sat down on the bed. He grabbed a copy of Lord of the Rings from the table beside his bed and flipped it open, leaning back against the headboard and reading silently.
Casey rolled his eyes a little at the book choice but kept his mouth shut. Leave it to an electronics nerd to be a Ring geek as well. Standing slowly, he walked into the kitchen to grab a beer and power bar before returning to his original position. However, unlike most nights, Chuck had already turned out the light and was busy setting his alarm for the next morning by the time Casey got back. The older man heard him rustling around with the sheets and pillows before he lay down and everything got quiet.
As was mentioned earlier, it's pretty pointless to maintain surveillance once the subject has gone to sleep. Not that he needed to, the house was more than secure; the beauty of a hidden camera is they're just that: hidden. However, Casey found he couldn't bring himself to turn off the cameras that were positioned around Chuck's bedroom. He liked to think he felt more in control when he could seen the subject at all times but he knew that wasn't the reason. So, just like Chuck, Casey would fall into his nightly routine of watching the younger man sleep. He would usually go to bed himself around 2 but until then he was glued to the monitors, watching for nothing but watching nonetheless.
Chuck's breathing evened out and became deep and slow and for a while Casey listened, lost in his own thoughts. Time passes slowly at this time of night so it was surprising when he looked up to see it was already 1:30. Stretching again, Casey stood and started back to his bedroom, ready to call it a night when a soft sound caught his attention. He whipped around instantly, eyes locked on the screen, ready to make a move at any sign of danger. Instead, all he saw was Chuck shifting restlessly in his bed.
The younger man's hand gripped the blanket tightly and he whimpered a little in his sleep, his breathing becoming a little faster and louder. Casey watched silently for a minute realizing that Chuck was more than likely in the middle of a nightmare. The muscles in his jaw tensed and he wanted more than anything to be there for him but that would blow everything. Instead, he watched, his normally cold look softening ever so slightly at the sight of the sleeping man.
"It's just a dream…" he whispered, completely surprised at himself for trying to comfort the young man through a camera. "Go back to sleep."
Chuck took a deep breath and seemed to relax, his grip on the blanket loosening as a deeper, more restful sleep came over him. He sighed slowly, the end of a word accompanying the exhale. "…-sey…"
Casey stiffened a little, convinced he'd heard it wrong. Shouldn't it be "-rah" or something along those lines? Shouldn't Chuck be dreaming of Sarah instead of-
"…Casey…" the word was little more than a whisper but it was unmistakably his name. The older man stood perfectly still for a long time, unaware of anything except the camera in front of him. Chuck had long since fallen back into a deep sleep but his voice saying his name so softly echoed through Casey's head like a scratched CD.
Finally, after the ability to walk returned, Casey took a slow breath and reluctantly turned to go to bed for the night. Leave it to Chuck to completely flip his idea of routines. Maybe the kid wasn't as easy to read as he thought.
Huzzah! Let me know what you think, k?? Please? I live for reviews : D