It was Sunday and Ellie had the whole day off. Since her breakup with Devon, she had come to relish the time she had by herself. Chuck was so sweet and so worried about her after the initial breakup that he hadn't been willing to leave her alone in over a month. If he planned to spend an evening with Sarah, they spent it at home with Elllie watching a movie or going out for dinner with her. If Morgan was coming over for dinner, they stayed in and played video games in the living room so they could be with her too. Chuck had even rearranged his work schedule to temporarily coincide with hers so she wouldn't be alone.

Truthfully, it was hard getting used to Devon not being around. They'd been together for so long that she was used to his physical presence in the house. But his emotional presence was a whole different matter. If she was honest with herself, she'd known they weren't right for each other for about a year, but she hadn't acted on her feelings. They grew more and more distant. Their schedules were different, their friends were different and their interests were different. While Devon was sweet to her, the passion was long gone from their relationship. They went through the motions together and put on a good front, but once they finally talked, they both decided they weren't ready for marriage. It had been a relief to him, she was sure of that, and she felt relief as well.

Chuck was finally realizing that she was fine and things in the Bartowski household were getting back to normal. He'd resumed his old work hours and today he was going shopping and lunching with Sarah.

Relishing the bright, sunny morning, Ellie decided it was time to wash her dirty BMW. She put on her shorts, tank top and flip flops, and headed down to their garage. It was only a single stall, but that was good enough. She opened the door with her remote and pulled the dirty black car out onto the driveway. When Devon had lived with them, he insisted that his jeep stay in the garage being that it had a cloth top. Her beemer, a black hardtop convertible, which was only a year old, was relegated to their outdoor assigned parking space with Chuck's work car taking whatever open space was left. Now that her car could be garaged, it was time for a thorough cleaning.

Elllie looked at her messy little car and sighed. She dug around in the garage for the bucket and soap and sponges and found everything including the now empty bottle of car soap. “'Thanks Devon'” she groused. She hoofed it back to her apartment and dug through the kitchen cabinet. Nothing except dish soap. Well, if it was good enough for her Grandmother's china, it was good enough for her little german girl. But, just this once she mused.

As she shut her front door and walked through the breezeway, she saw her neighbor, John Casey through his living room window and waved to him. He was so nice. He came over on occasion for dinner and to play Halo3 with Chuck and Morgan. He'd even joined Chuck, Sarah and herself for dinner out the other week. They'd all gone for Mexican food and had a nice time. She liked him and was noticing how stable he seemed. She was so used to Devon and his flighty personality that John intrigued her. He was the exact opposite of Devon. Tall, dark, handsome,mysterious and mature.

John Casey was vacuuming his floor in the living room and went to unplug the machine when he happened to glance up just as Ellie was walking by his window. Well, bouncing by, as she always had a spring in her step, especially now that she'd dumped that idiot boyfriend of hers. She waved perkily at him and he smiled and waved back.

He thought back to how Chuck had been frantic the first few days after “The Breakup”, as it had been termed by everyone associated with the Bartowski's, and had forbidden anyone to utter the “D” word around her. He also had gone into some previously hidden over protective brother mode.

Poor Ellie wasn't allowed to be alone at all. John must have been the only one who could see the relief that had set in with Ellie. She smiled more often, seemed to be doing her own thing for once instead of catering to that imbecile and all in all seemed to be just fine. He'd seen her the past week out jogging, swimming in their common pool and unbeknownst to her, had heard her singing while she did housework as he listened in during his assigned monitoring periods. He could tell she was happier, more relaxed and coming into her own. He knew her story, she'd raised Chuck after their parents died, put herself and Chuck through college and became a Doctor. She was the type of woman he respected and it didn't hurt that she was hot. He'd been spending more and more time in her company lately and was beginning to see all of her sides. The happy-bouncy side, the serious side, the parent/big sister side, the sexy side and her funny side and he liked it all.

Now that he was done in the living room he dragged the vacuum up the stairs and into his bedroom to give it a quick cleaning. As he plugged the unit into the wall socket, he could see her down in the driveway getting ready to wash her car. 'God what a filthy mess that thing was.' He knew it was just a BMW, weren't they a dime a dozen, but it really needed a thorough detailing. Now that the idiot ex was gone, he guessed she was finally going to be able to keep it in the garage. It had irked him when Devon had parked his jeep in the garage and made her park her new car outside. But, he was a clueless jack-ass so it wasn't a surprise. It had even irked Chuck, who was usually easy going about things, but Devon insisted his jeep stay in the garage so the top wouldn't be sliced. What the hell happened to the jeep the other sixteen hours of the day when it sat in the hospital parking lot was any-body's guess.

Casey watched Ellie with her little black car, and for a moment he thought back to his Vickie and how much he missed her. He'd always enjoyed washing her and detailing her. He had all the best products for her and now she was gone. He had the Chevy Tahoe, but that was a work vehicle and he'd run it through the car wash on occasion to keep it clean but he wasn't going to spend his own time on it.

No, those days were gone for him. He hadn't even put any time into finding a new car as there was no joy in it for him.

Suddenly feeling nostalgic and feeling the need to be out in the sunshine with a hose and a bucket, Casey decided to mosey on down and see if Ellie needed any help. Now, Casey wasn't the moseying type so he'd need an excuse to actually be down in the alley. He decided he'd go down to his garage and get something out of the Tahoe. He thought about what items he had in his work car...Sunglasses, ball cap, cell phone charger and decided the charger was the item he'd retrieve. He grabbed his keys and headed towards the alley.

Ellie filled the bucket with hose water and sprayed her dirty little girl. “"Oh my poor little German girl you're so dirty, look at all of the bird poop on you. I'm so sorry that I let you get so dir...oh, hi John, I didn't see you,"” she blushed realizing he had walked right behind her and had obviously heard her talking to her car.

He'd heard her talking to her car and was immediately reminded of his Vickie. "“Hi Ellie, bath time eh?"” he questioned.

“"Yep, I've let her...it get so dirty I figured today was the day.”"

She reached for the bottle of dish soap and flipped open the cap. Just as she started to pour the soap into the bucket, she felt a strong hand gently pull her arm away from the bucket.

"“Uh, are you sure you want to use dish soap on her?"” he questioned. "“I mean, it's not the best thing for her paint.”"

He'd dropped her arm and stepped back a bit and was looking at her waiting for a reply.

"“I don't have any more car soap John. Devon used the last of it and didn't replace it,"” she replied. “"You don't think it would hurt her this one time do you?"”

Casey thought for a moment and decided he'd let her use his detail products. “"Well it's really not good for her paint. You know, my car was stolen" he lied, "and I have all of her stuff still. You can use it if you'd like,"” he gallantly offered.

“"Thanks John, that would be nice. I'm sorry to hear about your car but it's nice that her products will be used for my girl here,"” she motioned to her pretty but very dirty car.

Casey knew he should feel disloyal to the memory of his Crown Victoria by sharing her things with Ellie and her European car, but for some reason, it didn't really bother him. Ellie appreciated his offer and he'd help her wash her car.

He pulled out his cart with all of the products he'd collected for Vickie as Ellie walked up for a close examination of what he had. “"Oh good, you have a chamois. Chuck lost mine and I've been using towels ever since. And, I see you use Mother's products, good call John. Hmm, I like the anti-static wheel paste, it will cut down on the brake dust. My beemer really produces a lot of brake dust, which they tell me is normal so this will work nicely."”

John stood back and watched her peruse the products, selecting exactly what he would have used. The girl knew her stuff he noted proudly, she really was a sharp one.

He'd seen Chuck wash the nerd herder with a bucket of Mr. Clean and a mop. The kid had actually used a freaking mop on a car. Now the herder was just a work car, but it had chilled him to the bone when he saw the kid using that mop. He was inwardly relieved to see that Ellie had more refined tastes.

Ellie was now looking up to the sky. "“I think I'll move her over a bit more as the sun is moving and I want to keep her in the shade so she doesn't spot."”

John nodded approvingly as she repositioned the car pulling it closer to the building and into the shade.

She hopped out and sprayed the car again with water and began washing the roof, front windshield and hood with her big sponge. John picked up the hose and sprayed it down when she finished. John continued to rinse while she washed. As she finished up, he grabbed the sponge and cleaned out the wheel wells.

"“Good idea, I wouldn't have thought of that John."”

"“I learned that from my Dad, a lot of road dirt gets up in there and most people forget to clean it."”

"“My Grandpa taught me how to wash cars. I used to help him every weekend when I was little and Chuck was just a baby."” She was focused now on a gooey spot at the front of the car. "“Eww gross, I need tar remover,"” she exclaimed. She quickly went over to her garage and rummaged through a cabinet and found a bottle of tar remover. She placed some on the the splotch as John watched appreciatively. She was crouching down low to the front of the car and he couldn't help but appraise her rear view. She really was a cute little thing with a very nice body, but he'd known that for some time now.

She'd finished getting the tar off and was now washing the area again. John noted she'd forgotten the passenger side mirror and took the sponge from her when she was done, and gave it a quick wash. He tossed the sponge back into the bucket and watched in horrified slow motion as the sponge splashed Ellie's face and head with water and soap as she crouched next to it.

Momentarily mortified, John paused and was about to apologize when he noted the playful look on her face. “"So, you want a water fight do you?"” she questioned. His brain processed the images of a wet, soapy Ellie and before he could control himself his face betrayed him and he realized he was standing there with a large, dopey, Chuck-like grin plastered on his face.

That was when she made her move. She grabbed the wet sponge from the bucket and under the guise of soaping down the cast aluminum wheels, she “accidentally” wrung it out over his waist and squealed as the suds and water soaked the front of his pants. She immediately darted around to the drivers side of the car and crouched down to hide from him.

John looked down at the front of his pants and laughed. "You will pay for this Miss Bartowski"

“"You look like Morgan when he peed himself after Chuck's twenty-first birthday party,"” he heard her yell as she giggled at him.

'Morgan!,' had she just compared him to that little troll of a boy-man! she'd have to pay for that he thought as his professional training kicked into gear. Show no mercy towards your victim, hunt them down and flush them out of hiding and attack.

He bent down and peeked under the car and saw her calves and flip-flop clad feet on the drivers side. He aimed the nozzle of the hose underneath the car and soaked her legs and feet. He was already standing up towering over the roof waiting for her to pop up. Almost on cue, she stood and screamed at the shock of the cold water hitting her legs.

"“You're going to ge.. Ahhhhh, John! Eeeeeee..."” was all she could manage to say as he nailed her with the hose. Bingo, a direct hit, point blank and directly centered at her chest! God he was good he mused as he held the water on her with the cheesiest smile, all the while laughing evilly at her.

She ran around the front of the car, shielding her face with her hands and threw herself at him trying to wrestle the hose from his grip. They grappled for a moment as she tried in vain to get the hose away from him.

'This was just too much fun,' he thought. He was fending off a wet Ellie!, it didn't get much better than that! He raised his arms and kept hosing her from high above. She was jumping up and down directly in front of him, their wet bodies mere inches apart, her arms raised above her head, wet little hands grabbing at his arms and he couldn't help but notice her wet, heaving chest. God this was right out of a soft porn film he swore he'd seen in college. Her shirt was soaked and while not transparent, he was getting a very good view of her attributes and thoroughly enjoying it. She was screaming with laughter as he showered water onto the top of her head soaking himself in the process but not giving a damn.

Ellie was losing this battle and had to take action. She was panting and could not for the life of her get the hose away from his strong hands. She decided it was time to play dirty.

“"Oh..oh John, this isn't fair, you're too tall,"” she panted out as water cascaded down her head and body. She sighed heavily and let her body sway into his. She pressed every wet inch of herself against his front and buried her head into his chest bringing her hands up to shelter her head from the water pouring over her. 'This ought to put us on more equal ground' she mused. She could feel his heart beating and could hear the laughter coming from deep in his chest. "Oh God did he feel good' her mind screamed.

She was pressed up against this hard, wet wall-of-a-man and her mind raced with thoughts of what she'd like to do to him. She could kiss him until they were breathless, she could tear off his shirt and push him to the ground and straddle him like a race horse, she could run her hands across those broad shoulders and squeeze every hard muscle she could see, she could lick his bare chest like it was candy and run her hands through his wet hair...she had to stop these thoughts and come back to her senses or she just might act on them she worried. She realized he'd stopped hosing her and was rumbling with laughter. One of his strong arms had wrapped around her waist and he was holding her to him as he laughed. Strategically, she knew this was the time to act but as she looked up at his laughing, smiling face and noticed his gorgeous blue eyes smiling down on her, she froze.

She'd never seen him so relaxed and she'd definitely never seen him laugh so hard. It took her breath away. She found herself momentarily lost in the depth of his blue eyes and smiled up at him; “"You win John, you win"” she panted out.

“"So, your going surrender are you?"” he replied, arm still wrapped around her body as those killer blue eyes focused on her.

“"Yes, I give up,"” she breathily replied, “"You win."” But that was just not going to happen she plotted. He let go of her and stepped back and she momentarily felt the urge to pull him back to her body. But, now that she'd gained the upper hand and had gotten him to stop spraying her, she knew she'd have to make her move. Her eyes drifted from his to the bucket of soapy water that was within easy reach of them both.

He immediately followed her gaze and what he saw chilled him as his blue eyes met her steely, cold, calculating gray eyes. It was like the O.K. corral. He could almost hear the cheesy western-themed soundtrack play in his mind and the clinking sound of the metal spurs in the dirt as they positioned themselves for the inevitable gun battle. Except she wasn't wearing chaps...and that was too bad he thought.

She lunged and reached the bucket first and the next thing he knew he was doused with soapy water. He could hear her screaming and laughing in victory. Personally, he should be humiliated for letting her best him, but he could let it slide this time as they were just having fun. 'Fun, since when did he have fun?' he mused. Then it hit him. His guard was down, he was actually relaxed and he was in fact having fun with her and it felt damn good.

"“Oh you hit below the belt Miss Bartowski,"” he laughed.

"“Well, at least we're even now” she replied," dazzling him with a beautiful smile.

They both looked over at her car and decided it needed another quick rinse so it wouldn't spot.

“"We'd better call a truce or your girl is going to spot,"” he announced. He walked to the hose and held his hands up, palms out towards her in a non-threatening manner and bent to pick it up. He gave the car it's final rinse as she took out his chamois from it's container. He walked up to her and took it from her without any words and began to dry the roof of the car. She grabbed a towel and worked on the windows and they quickly finished drying her little black beauty.

Noticing his leather belt and leather shoes were soaked, Ellie apologized. “"John, I got your belt and shoes wet, I'm sorry, I hope you aren't mad."”

'Mad? Jesus, he'd be willing to sacrifice a belt and a pair of shoes on a daily basis if it meant spending time like this with her' he thought. "“Don't worry Ellie, it's no problem. They'll dry and it was all in fun.”" Had he really just said that he thought?

"“Good, I mean, I was at least dressed for this, but you came down to help and you even let me use your stuff and look what it got you, you're soaked!”"

“"Well, I was cleaning and to be honest, it felt good to get outside. At least I'm cooled off now,"” he grinned in reply.

"I want to take her for a little spin now that she's all pretty, and I was planning on going out to lunch. I'd love some company, Will you come along with me? It'll be my treat as a thank you for your help,"” she added.

“"That sounds great. I'd love to.”"

This was a nice treat Ellie thought to herself, some fun washing her car and now lunch with John to boot. "“Let me go up and grab a shower. I'll knock on your door in half and hour. Will that work?"”

"“Sure, see you in a bit," he replied. He almost skipped off in glee as he watched her leave. This was much better than vacuuming he smirked.”

Ellie and John had enjoyed their lunch in Costa Mesa and were walking back to her car. "That is so sad about your car getting stolen. Was it taken from our apartment complex?"

”"No, I took her to the Buy More and came out one evening and she was gone,"” he sadly replied.

Ellie's heart ached for him. It was bad enough having your car stolen but worse when you actually loved your car. "“Well, you know people get what they give, so whomever took her will pay. It's just sad that she is gone. Will you replace her?"”

“"Nah, I've got the company car and that works fine. Maybe someday I'll find another Crown Vic, but I'm honestly not looking at the moment.”"

"“Well, at least you have your company car. You're lucky you don't have to drive a nerd herder like Chuck's. How did you get that nice SUV any ways? Do all employee's get a company car?"”

"“No, I have one as I'm considered management, even though I do sales as well, but I do a lot of security work and have to visit different stores on occasion, so it's basically the security part of the job that gets me the car. Anything that involves travel, even if it's just within our region merits a car."”

Ellie decided she'd let John drive so she could enjoy the sights and relax. He could have some fun with her girl she mused, he'd really appreciate her abilities being that he was a car buff.

“"John, I think you should get to know my girl. She's small, but she's got giddy-up. Go ahead and take her for a spin and get her motor running,"” she grinned as she handed him the keys.

Well, that sure was something you didn't hear a woman say every day John mused. It had been some time since he'd really let it loose in a car outside of his job. "“Okay, that sounds like a challenge, so, I'll see what she can do. I've heard these beemers are really engineered well,"” he replied, happily taking the keys from her hand. For a brief moment, as their hands touched, he could swear he felt a jolt travel through his body. His eyes met hers and she smiled up at him. He could tell she felt it too as her gaze lingered on his. He opened the door for and walked around to the drivers side. This really was turning out to be a hell of a day.

John popped the top as they drove off and headed towards the seventy three. It was a toll road in the San Joaquin hills, so they'd have little if any traffic and there were plenty of straight aways and curves so he could really see what her beemer was capable of doing. He wasn't worried about any speeding tickets, because if he got one, he'd get it dismissed later through his government contacts. It was a perk he'd always enjoyed when he had to “clear out” Vickie's carburetor.

John decided now was the time and took the car up to ninety. It accelerated smoothly and the car handled so well through the turns, it seemed like it was only going forty. He took it into another curve at eighty and it didn't lurch or roll. He glanced at Ellie to make sure he wasn't overstepping his boundaries. She smiled and shouted "“Come on, give her all she's got, open her up!"”

With her encouragement, he stepped on the peddle and accelerated out of the turn at over one hundred ten miles per hour. Just then, he felt something fly into his hair. Not wanting to take his hands off of the wheel, he yelled over to Ellie, "“Hey, a bug just flew into my hair, it's caught, can you get it out?"” He hoped it wasn't a bee as getting stung in the head wasn't on his agenda for the day.

Ellie leaned into him and ran her hands through his hair and spotted the offending bug. Thankfully it wasn't a bee. She brushed the bug out of his hair and smoothed it back down. His hair was so soft and it felt good to run her fingers through it. She looked at him as he enjoyed whizzing along in her car and let her mouth drop close to his ear. “"You're good, it's gone"” she purred but didn't take her hand away from his head, rather she let her fingers trail down to his strong, well-muscled neck. She lightly combed her fingers through his hair and caressed the back of his neck as she continued to lean into him.

John was stunned and felt a shiver travel up his spine, she was whispering in his ear, leaning into him and her fingers were tickling his neck and it felt good! 'Thank you bug' he thought! as they happily continued their drive.

He sped up again, safely passing several cars that were two lanes over and it seemed like they were standing still. The car purred along at a relatively low RPM. Ellie was laughing and smiling at him as he got up to one hundred twenty. He eased back on the gas and brought the car back down to a safe seventy five. He knew he could have driven her harder, but this was fine for now. He was enjoying himself and enjoying her company. He noted how beautiful she was as she looked around at the scenery, with her hair blowing in the wind and a huge smile on her face. They'd definitely have to wash cars together more often he thought with a grin as they drove off in the sun. When she dropped her hand from his neck, he grabbed it in his large hand and wrapped his fingers around hers and let their joined hands rest on his thigh.

--

“"Freaking idiot drivers,"” Chuck groused to Sarah as a speeding convertible came up fast behind them. “"Everyone thinks they're Mario Andretti."

They'd finished shopping and were driving into the San Joaquin hills on a quick service call he'd received from Jeff. They'd be in and out in under a half hour he'd estimated so he asked Sarah if she wouldn't mind accompanying him and was pleased when she'd agreed. Chuck had borrowed Morgan's car for the day as he was really off duty and shouldn't drive the herder, but when Jeff had called and asked if he could take this run, he agreed as it was close to where he and Sarah had just been and would save his coworker the trouble of driving out to the San Joaquin hills in traffic.

He glared at the black convertible as it roared by at a very high rate of speed. Chuck's jaw dropped as he clearly recognized his sister, her hair blowing in the wind, with her very recognizable white Prada sunglasses on, laughing and smiling with her hands in the hair of the male driver. Yep, that was definitely Ellie and that was her car but who was driving? Chuck sped Morgan's Camery up and got close enough to identify the driver. “"Oh No, it can't be!"” he whined, “it couldn't be,” but it was. It was John Casey! 'What the heck was she doing and why was HE driving and why was she all over him? Jesus she was running her hands through his hair and whispering in his ear.' He was fine with them being friends but this, this was a huge surprise.

"“What the heck?"” he groused to Sarah. Ellie wouldn't let anyone drive her car. He'd begged her when she first bought it to no avail. She wouldn't even let Devon drive it. But NO, for some reason she let freaking John drive it!

“"Sarah, quick look at that black BMW convertible,"” he screeched as he sped up again so she could see with her own eyes. Morgan's Camery could do one hundred, but the beemer was going well over that speed.

“"Hey that's Casey! I didn't know he bought a new car. And a beemer! I thought he was into old, weird American cars,"” she said as she strained to see who the brunette was that he was with. She knew he was over Ilsa, but she could tell he was a bit lonely as of late, not that he'd ever admit it, but she knew her partner pretty well now and could tell he was lonely. Her face lit up in a huge smile when she realized he was with Ellie.

"Oh my god, he's with Ellie! They look so cute together and she's so sweet. They're perfect for each other,"” she squealed.

Chuck looked at her with a stupefied look. "“You actually think he, she, your partner...they'd be good together?" he stuttered.”

“"Don't look so stunned Chuck. Ellie is smart and so is Casey, they look adorable together and more importantly, don't you think Ellie would be as safe as she possibly could be with Casey? I mean, if anyone messed with her, he'd make them wear their ass for a hat don't you think? and he's not a flake like Devon was."”

Chuck thought for a moment and remembered how Elllie always teased that she had three teen-aged boys to take care of. Devon, Morgan and himself. There was no way Casey was a teen-aged boy and it was true, he'd seriously damage anyone that messed with Ellie.

She looked happier than he'd seen her in a long time as she drove by with Casey. Devon was a nice enough guy, but he was so wishy-washy and selfish. Chuck thought back to how he took the garage for his jeep and made her park her car outside. He knew Casey was bugged by that as he'd heard him comment about it. He'd seen Casey around Ellie and he was always kind and polite to her. But the guy was a killer he inwardly groaned.

Chuck sighed heavily, and looked at the woman next to him. Sarah was a killer as well and the two of them were doing fine weren't they? He recalled a few political discussions he'd had with Ellie at the dinner table after 9/11 and he remembered her arguing why she felt America needed a strong military and why some jobs, while not for everyone, were necessary for the good of the country and good men and women did them. He figured if and when she found out about Casey she'd be accepting of it, kind of like he found himself slowly accepting and understanding what Sarah and Casey did for a living. He tore himself away from his thoughts when he realized Sarah was talking to him.

"“Come on Chuck, I think it's cute. Just relax about it. If they're serious about each other, he'll do right by her, don't worry. He's a good guy Chuck. There are things that I can't tell you about him, obviously, but if it were my sister that he was interested in, I'd be just fine with her dating him.”"

Well that made him feel a bit better. He'd have to think about how to handle this. Maybe he wouldn't let on that he'd seen them together and just sit back and watch things unfold. Or, maybe he'd confront Casey tonight when they got home. Nah, bad plan, confronting Casey was never a good idea. He'd watch and wait, that's what he'd do.

"“Sarah, do me a favor, please don't tell anyone including Casey that we saw them together. I don't want either of them to know that we know, you know?"”

Sarah smiled at what Chuck had just said. "“Okay Chuck, mum's the word. Plus it will be fun to see how they act around us don't you think? maybe they'll be all sly and sneaky or maybe just put it all out there for everyone to see. I'd love to see if they try to sneak around and all of the fun we can have messing with them." she grinned as her eye's twinkled with mischief. ”

Chuck smiled, it would be kind of fun to see what the two of them would do with their budding relationship. "Yeah, it's going to be pretty interesting to see where they go with this and Morgan is going to have a coronary over it. That in itself is going to be hilarious. I just wish she'd let me drive her car too."

End