A/N: Hey, this is short, and it's based on a scene from Chuck Versus the Suburbs. It's actually one of my favorites. Ok there's a lot. Enjoy this. I will probably post another one from Sarah's point of view later. And maybe one from a special guest if you're lucky... Oh, and I wrote this at like 2 in the morning... that is a lie. It is currently 1:37. A.M. Still...

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

I knew when I entered our home, our home, for the first time that it would end with you taking it all back. The house, the pictures, the dog, the ring. Even the breakfast...

I knew it was another mission. I knew I would have to flash and you would do your awesome kick-ass ninja spy girl thing. Casey would do something brutish, and possibly use a really lame catch phrase. I knew I would be in danger, I knew you would worry. But, God, Sarah, I never thought I would be the one to put you in harm's way.

And I never thought I would save you from it.

Sure, Casey broke his thumbs. And triggered the images... But that's typical, he's an All-American Hero, even if he is a bit stuck in the past. And, yes, Fulcrum's version of the intersect did most of the ass-kicking, but I never knew, never had one iota of an idea, that it would be me telling you to close your eyes. To protect your mind from what mine had become.

To keep yours pure, intact, sane.

I saw your fear of me after I saw the images, and that hurt me. You were afraid I had become one of them. My mind had been fuzzy, I admit. But Sarah, from the moment I woke up in that room till when I got home that night, you were the only person on my mind. Whether you were Agent Walker or Sarah Carmichael. I agreed to have you placed in that chair Sarah. I can't forgive myself for that.

Then things cleared up as I looked into your eyes. You were scared for me, and a tiny bit for yourself I'm sure. If my brain couldn't handle it, yours wouldn't stand a chance. But when you closed your eyes, Sarah, I don't think you may have ever been so beautiful to me.

I closed my eyes with yours, as I held you close to my chest. Your face was buried in my neck. I had already seen the images before, but I knew, as I have always known, that I wouldn't be able to bare the sight of you being hurt. And that had been a strong possibility. What if closing your eyes wasn't enough? What if the images found their way to you anyway? I winced as I heard those screams, and I felt as you did too. I covered your ears, Sarah, to protect you from their pain. They deserved it, but you didn't. You didn't need to worry for them, to feel for them. They were going to do the same to you.

When you grabbed my hand I felt your wedding rings pressing into my palms. Ironic, isn't it, that I would be placing mine in yours later? Those rings were in a dream of mine. That dream where we have that simple suburban picket-fence life. 2.5 kids, a happy dog, real wedding photographs, and friendly neighbors...

Sarah, all the love I felt for you shone through in that one moment, back in the suburbs. It wasn't when you made me breakfast, or posed as my darling wife. It wasn't when you kissed me goodbye, and especially not when you slapped me (which, by the way, really did hurt). It was when you surrendered your life into my hands for one second. When you let me save you.

Sarah, I think it was then, that one moment in the suburbs, that I knew that you trusted me. You believed in me. In that moment, I knew that you loved me. God, in that moment, Sarah, I stopped knowing, and started to hope.