A/N: I watched the latest episode this morning and had some ideas spring up and say "Hey! We'd make a great story!". And it wouldn't shut up until I put them down in some way. Rest assured though that there will be new chapters of Shoe Box and WTHIT shortly (within the hour I hope!)

A/N: I don't own Chuck, Sarah, or anyone else cannon to the show. I don't make money from this. Yada yada yada.

Chapter 1

Though he could not hear it, Chuck groaned loudly as he slowly rolled over on the floor. A few moments after his groan the glass door of the room swung open to reveal a small bearded man in a vest and tie.

"Chuck?" Morgan asked in confusion upon seeing his best friend laying on the ground. "Chuck, man, wake up."

"Morgan?" Chuck groaned.

"Yeah man, it's me," Morgan said with a smile. "What's going on?"

"Where am I?"

"The BuyMore, on the floor of the theatre room...ringing any bells?"

Opening his mouth a few times, Chuck's brain sluggishly began to process things. His mouth felt like it had when he and Bryce had gone on that three day bender back in college. "What time is it?"

"It's almost eleven, man; I was just getting ready to head home after crunching the numbers for Big Mike."

Desperately, Chuck tried to remember the events that led to him being on the floor of the theatre room. He had been in the theatre room after a mission to apprehend a suspected Ring operative... "Hannah...where's Hannah?"

Chuck failed to notice the sad, and somewhat cold, look that fell over Morgan's face. "Dude, look, maybe you and Hannah had better start taking it somewhere else."

"What? Morgan, what are you talking about?" Chuck blinked his eyes as he pulled himself off the floor. He was pretty sure he'd been tranqed, again. And Hannah was missing.

"Look Chuck, I'm glad you were able to get over Sarah so quickly, and I've tried not to say anything man, because really I don't want you to go down that spiral again, but it's eating me up. You knew I liked her man, and still you went after her. What happened to us man?"

Patting himself down quickly, Chuck checked to see if anything was missing, or if anything had been added to what he had on him. Phone was still there, watch, wallet, no extra goodies. Pushing the button on the side of the watch to trigger an alert, Chuck turned to finally look at Morgan. "What are you talking about Morgan?"

"Hannah, you knew I had a thing for her man!" Morgan said in a voice perilously close to whining. "What, it wasn't enough for you to land Sarah? And Lou? You had to take Hannah too? What says you get to date all the hot and awesome women that work around here Chuck?"

"Ummm, look buddy, that's not how it happened," Chuck said as he desperately sought for a way out of the conversation. "And ahhhh , if it's almost eleven I'm running late for a date with...ahh...crap. Look man, I'm really sorry, but it's not what you think. Can we talk about this when I get home?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Morgan shook his head. "Duck out of the conversation, just like you always do nowadays. Go, do whatever it is you do when you run away."

"Thanks buddy," Chuck said with a smile at his friend. "I swear, we'll talk when I get home. Promise."

As Chuck was making his way out of the home theatre room, Morgan called out "Chuck?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"I told John I was going to be standing up for myself now, so I feel I have to say this. I hate to say it man, but I don't know you anymore, I don't know who you are. What happened to my best friend?"

Unsure of how to answer, Chuck just shrugged with a sheepish smile and ducked out of the room.

***

Pausing only long enough to use the retinal scanner in the Orange Orange freezer, Chuck took the stairs into Castle two at a time.

"Casey? Sarah? Shaw?" Chuck called out as he hit the bottom of the stairs. "Guys?"

Pausing for a second to see if anyone answered, Chuck shook his head slowly. "Great, looks like the training wheels have come off, except no one told me."

Looking around, Chuck noticed the file still out on the table, one of the chairs overturned, and a greasy substance on the floor leading back to the detention cells. "Helllllo," Chuck muttered. "That's odd."

Stepping over the chair, Chuck moved over to the substance on the floor and dipped a finger in it. Looking at his finger Chuck felt a shiver down his spine as he saw the red substance. Blood. Who's blood was the question. "Actually," Chuck muttered, "the question is why is there blood here?"

Jumping up, Chuck ran to the armoury to grab and load a 9mm. Thumbing off the safety and chambering a round, Chuck moved back over to the blood trail and slowly made his way back to the cells. "Hello?" Chuck called out softly. "Anyone home?"

A low groan answered Chuck's query. Turning the corner Chuck stopped at the sight that greeted him. John Casey was lying in a detention cell in a large puddle of blood. Clicking the safety back on, Chuck slid the sidearm into his waistband behind his back and punched in the release code.

"Casey!" Chuck shouted as the door slid open. Rushing forward he dropped to his knees beside his friend and partner. "John!"

With a groan, Casey slowly turned his head to turn glassy eyes to look up at Chuck. "Bar...owski."

"Oh man oh man," Chuck groaned. "Hold on John, I'll get help."

"Too...late," Casey grunted out slowly.

"Don't you say that," Chuck snapped. "You're John Casey, NSA Super Spy, so you hold in there!"

Rushing out of the cell, Chuck grabbed a first aid kit off the wall and sprinted back in, pulling his phone from his pocket. Ripping open the kit Chuck grabbed a field dressing and ripped the packaging open. Dropping to his knees he rolled John over and got a good look at the mess where his stomach used to be. "Oh man," Chuck moaned. Taking a deep breath, Chuck forced his emotions to the background and pressed the bandage against John's stomach. "Hang in there buddy, I'll get help."

While keeping pressure on the bandage, Chuck used a blood slicked thumb to open his contact list and selected "Captain Awesome".

"Devon, it's Chuck. Don't talk. I need your help man, it's John."

"Gunshot. It's bad Dev, real bad."

"In the Castle. Use the code 9112119. It's the emergency override. Thanks bro, I owe you."

Turned back to the man on the floor, Chuck was sickened at how quickly the pressure bandage had become soaked through with blood. Grabbing another field dressing from the kit, he ripped it open and pushed it against the first one. "Hang in there John, Devon's on the way. Don't you die on me Casey, not now."