Thirteen year old Chuck Bartowski tip toed down the stairs, not wanting to wake his older sister. He was headed for a late night trip to the bathroom. His father had gone on another business trip, so he didn't need to worry about him. He reached the bottom of the stairs successfully, and headed toward the kitchen…

And stopped dead.

There were three men in his house. They were all clad in black, with ski masks over their faces. ROBBERS! His mind screamed at him.

He lunged for the door screaming "ELLIE! ROBBERS! GET OUT!" as loud as he could. One of the robbers grabbed him by his hair. He continued to scream for help until the robber put a hand over his mouth. Taking this opportunity, Chuck bit down hard. The robber, outraged, kicked him in the stomach. All the air rushed out of him, and he fell hard on the floor.

As soon as he could breathe again, he jumped back up, and lunged one of them. He pulled off the robbers masks, but before he could do anything else, one of them punched him. He landed on the floor again. The robber whose mask he had torn off was pulling in back on, but not before Chuck could see his face. The man had a long scar running down the side of his face, grey hair, and bright green eyes.

He heard a Thump! Thump! Thump! Of someone rushing down the stairs. Ellie appeared, phone in hand, at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "Chuck!"

Then she looked defiantly up at the robbers. "I called 911." The robbers glanced at each other.

"Let's get out of here."

"Wait!" the grey-haired one said. "He saw my face."

The other robber sighed, before pulling out his gun.

"NO!" Ellie screamed, lunging for her little brother. The grey haired one pulled her back, pinning her arms behind her. She struggled, desperately as she watched one of the robbers point the gun at Chuck. Come on! Hurry up! She willed the police. The man pulled the trigger.

BAM!

Ellie screamed so loud that she swore her throat must have torn in half. It ripped through her throat, burning her mouth. The robber let her go, and she heard the door slam.

She crawled over to Chuck, pushing her hands against the bleeding like they did on television. It seeped through her fingers, and she began to cry.

"You're going to be okay Chuck." She managed through the tears. "You'll be fine. Everything will be fine."

Sirens began to wail in the distance, and she continued to talk to Chuck. Telling him to hold on. She looked at his face. He was staring at her, focusing on her. Pushing everything else away.

"Ellie…" he whispered.

"I love you Chuck. Don't leave me!"

Paramedics came then, pushing her away from Chuck. She couldn't stop crying.

"Eleanor Bartowski?" a police officer asked her. "Are you the one who made the 911 call?"

She nodded and said "They shot Chuck. They shot my little brother!"

"I know sweetie. Do you need a ride to the hospital?"

Ellie nodded. "Alright, let's go."

She waited in the waiting room of the hospital for hours. The police couldn't get a hold of her father. She was alone. She was all Chuck had. Chuck was all she had. She couldn't lose Chuck…

Eventually a doctor came out. She spoke kindly and softly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you Eleanor?"

"Ellie. People call me Ellie."

"Alright Ellie. Chuck just came out of surgery. He's going to be okay."

Ellie started to cry again, this time out of happiness . "Thank you." She said, hugging the doctor. "Thank you, so much!"

Relief fell over Ellie, and she fell asleep on a couch in the waiting room, making sure the nurses knew to wake her up the moment she was allowed to see Chuck.