Work Text:
Won't you come see about me?
I'll be alone, dancing, you know it, baby
Tell me your troubles and doubts
Giving everything inside and out and
Love's strange, so real in the dark
Think of the tender things that we were working on
Slow change may pull us apart
When the light gets into your heart, baby
Don't you, forget about me
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't you, forget about me
Will you stand above me?
Look my way, never love me
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down
Will you recognize me?
Call my name or walk on by
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down, down
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Ooh, woah
Don't you try and pretend
It's my feeling we'll win in the end
I won't harm you or touch your defenses
Vanity and security, ah
Don't you forget about me
I'll be alone, dancing, you know it, baby
Going to take you apart
I'll put us back together at heart, baby
Don't you, forget about me
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't you, forget about me
As you walk on by
Will you call my name?
As you walk on by
Will you call my name?
When you walk away
Or will you walk away?
Will you walk on by?
Come on, call my name
Will you call my name?
---
“Don’t You (Forget about Me)”
Simple Minds
Morgan’s idea of a kiss that brought back all her memories hadn’t worked. Sarah could see that Chuck realized that as he looked at her face.
“It was a magical kiss, Chuck, but not in the way Morgan hoped.” She paused for a moment and then added, “That I hoped, too.”
“I take it that you’re going to leave, then,” he said. The sadness in his voice was bad enough, but his defeated expression stabbed into her heart.
As to what she would do next, she was torn. Her head was telling her to run. To get away from this man that confused her and, frankly, whose love frightened her. Her heart, however, was telling her to stay because of that love and that he could probably help heal her.
She knew that both were right. Could she overcome her training from both her dad and the Company, and believe that she could be in love, as she previously had been?
As she sat facing him, she pondered why that was so frightening. This man loved her. He would do anything for her. He’d even dived in front of her and taken the bullet that would’ve killed her. He was willing to give his life for her.
However, being with him, being married to him, was so different to her expectations. It didn’t feel right. That was partly because it didn’t fit with the life she was used to, the spy life. She wasn’t supposed to settle down, as that would require. She also didn’t feel she deserved his love. She was a killer, not a lover. How the hell had she reconciled that before?
Against that, her heart, and to be honest, her lips after that kiss, said she should stay with the only person who really knew her. Knew her better than she did herself. Who understood all of her concerns and would adjust to them. On top of all of that, he was the best placed to help her regain her memories.
She needed to reconcile these conflicting views before she could decide.
“I have to go, Chuck,” she quietly replied. “I need to get my head around all that you’ve told me and decide how to move forward.”
She could instantly see how those words hurt him as he tightened his lips and looked away, trying to hide his tears.
She placed a hand on his arm. “I might decide to come back,” she offered, but then realized that also reminded him that she might not.
As he looked out at the ocean, he started to sing to himself. It wasn’t loud, and she had to listen carefully to hear it over the waves rippling onto the shore.
Tell me your troubles and doubts
Giving everything inside and out and
Love's strange, so real in the dark
Think of the tender things that we were working on
She almost gasped. The words themselves got into her head. They matched what her heart was telling her. She could talk to him about her troubles and doubts. She could never do that with anyone before, but he’d listen and not judge. He’d be willing to help her with anything. She couldn’t remember the tender things that we were working on before her memory loss, obviously, but this conversation on the beach was that, too. He would tenderly help her out of the darkness fogging her brain.
However, there was also his voice. It was lovely. It called to her heart as much as the kiss had.
She couldn’t move, frozen listening as he continued.
Slow change may pull us apart
When the light gets into your heart, baby
She was trapped by Quinn for some time. Did the removal of those five years happen quickly or slowly? The second line certainly didn’t match her current situation. Chuck was getting the light into her heart, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
Then, he launched into what must’ve been the chorus.
Don't you, forget about me
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't you, forget about me
He thought she would. Before he had arrived on the beach, she’d hoped she would forget about him, but she doubted it after he told her their story.
He’d raised his voice slightly as he sang that chorus. It brought back memories of hearing him sing before. She had first heard him when she came to the apartment he shared with his sister to collect him for a mission. She’d arrived early and he was in the shower, singing. She’d been captivated. She had other memories of hearing him sing in the shower, and must’ve been living with him by then.
She gasped as this wave of memories hit her.
Chuck stopped singing and looked worriedly at her.
“Don’t stop,” she implored.
He looked embarrassed. “I hadn’t realized I’d even started. I was lost in my melancholy.”
She gripped his hand. “Chuck, your singing is magic. Please continue the song.”
He thought about what he’d been singing. “It’s not a happy song.”
“Obviously not normally,” she replied. “But it’s helping me.”
He nodded. He didn’t look totally comfortable, but he started singing again.
Will you stand above me?
Look my way, never love me
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down
She wasn’t standing, just sitting beside him, but was looking at him. She knew that she had loved him before, and she felt a fluttering in her chest now. She thought she would love him now too, if she let her heart free.
Will you recognize me?
Call my name or walk on by
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down, down
God, it was a sad song, and it did match her feelings when she came to in her hotel room and Quinn started talking to her about Chuck. She didn’t recognize him, and certainly not as her husband. When she was trying to decide what to do, she wasn’t going to walk on by, but run the hell away!
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Ooh, woah
Not words, but the sounds he was making definitely pulled her heart strings.
Don't you try and pretend
It's my feeling we'll win in the end
I won't harm you or touch your defenses
Vanity and security, ah
She hadn’t been pretending. She really had been lost to him, but he hadn’t given up on her. At least not until now. He had believed they would reconnect. And in spite of her past experience with men, she could see that Chuck would never harm her… ever.
Don't you forget about me
I'll be alone, dancing, you know it, baby
Going to take you apart
I'll put us back together at heart, baby
That was another stab to her heart. If she left him, it was obvious that he wouldn’t find, or even seek, someone to replace her in his heart. He would be alone. Probably forever. Still waiting for her, hoping she’d return. In his mind, as well as his heart, they would always be together, even if not physically.
And she could now feel it, too. She did love him and couldn’t bear to leave him, for herself, as well as for him.
Don't you, forget about me
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't you, forget about me
She knew that she would never forget him. If she left, she would probably soon be pining for him.
As you walk-
He was unable to keep singing because she dived over and crashed her lips to his. Her movement was unexpected. He fell backward onto the sand, and she landed upon him. Her lips were still sealed to his, but her tongue forced its way through his lips, and the kiss deepened.
When she needed to take a breath, she pulled away, but intended to continue the kissing. However, she could see the confusion in his dazed eyes. She felt she had to explain, so pulled further away.
“Chuck, some of the things you told me brought back memories, but the failure of the magic kiss made me feel it was hopeless . I can’t cope with failure. I run.”
He clearly understood that, but asked, “So, why kiss me like that?”
“Your singing brought back a flood of memories of me hearing you sing. I loved your voice back then, and I still do. It warms my frozen heart. The more you sang, the stronger the feeling.”
She had to tell him, but it was hard, as she never thought she’d ever say the words. Then, she realized she must have said them many times before. They were married, after all.
She held his face in her hands and said, “Chuck, I love you.” The smile that appeared made her so happy. “I’m not going to leave. I need you to help me remember more of my missing years.”
“I will do everything I can to help, Sarah. But even if you can’t remember, we can still have each other.”
She had something else to say. “Oh, and you need to sing to me lots more.”
He grinned. “Do you remember this song?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s from before I was born but still played on the radio when I was with my dad.”
“Want to sing the ending with me?” he suggested.
Her heart almost burst. “God, yes!”
He started it.
I say
And she joined him.
La, la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
When you walk on by
And you call my name
When you walk on by
They collapsed into laughter and more kisses after that.
She then stood, and reached for his hands.
Once she’d pulled him up, they walked, arm in arm, up the beach to his car, both of them humming the song again.