This just wasn't right. Chuck didn't deserve to be thrown back into this life. He was supposed to be done with it; but now the curse that was the Intersect was stuck in his head again. This called for some quick thinking, and even quicker execution. Rigging the television in Chuck's bedroom to display a very special message, Steve only hoped that his son would understand that this had been done for him. He also hoped that this would pull Sarah out of the funk she'd been in since Chuck re-uploaded himself. Well, it's all set. Good luck Charles.

Later that afternoon

The honeymoon had been awesome. Of course it would be with the Captain at the helm. Things on the home front since their return on the other hand…well not so much. He and Ellie had been fine. Honestly, nothing had really changed between him and his wife. They had been practically married for some time now. The wedding had just made it more official. But he was worried about Chuck.

The happy, fun loving Chuck that Devon had come to know over the past few years was nowhere to be seen. Part of him wondered if he was just seeing things differently now that he knew what Chuck really did. He had almost resigned himself to that very conclusion until Ellie had noticed the same thing after dinner last night.

"Do Chuck and Sarah seem…I don't know…a little somber?" she'd asked him. And it was then that Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb had decided it was time to do something about his bro in-law's gloominess. A little male bonding time might be just the thing the Chuckster needed to get back on the happy wagon. He'd leave the Sarah mission to Ellie. As awesome as he was, he wasn't sure he could handle the emotional distress of two women. He did well just to keep up with Ellie's moods.

And so it was that Devon decided that a night of vegging out and playing some video games would do Special Agent Carmichael some good. Of course, if Awesome was going to be…well awesome, he needed to practice up so he could hang with the king of the nerds. Is 'king of the nerds' offensive? I only mean to imply that he is above all of the other nerds. It's not that I think he's a bigger nerd than the rest of them. He's less of a nerd in fact. I mean he's a spy for crisps sakes. And what kind of nerd has a girlfriend like Sarah? Chuck wasn't even here to hear that was he? No need to worry about it Devon.

Breaking himself from his irrelevant inner dialogue, Awesome entered the 'Nerd Cave' -as he liked to think of the bedroom that his brother in-law lived in- and looked through Chuck's games. Call of Duty seems to be a favorite of his. I'll start there.

Placing the game disc into the X-Box, Devon studied the controller to familiarize himself with his weapon of choice. Feeling prepared, or at least as prepared as an awesome cardiothoracic surgeon ever is to play video games, he turned the television on. But when the set came to life, it wasn't a title screen for the video game that appeared. Instead, it was…

Pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And short video clips. All of these things were flashing by at an alarming rate of speed. It looked like one of those seizure inducing videos that he'd always heard about. Strangely, Devon couldn't look away from the screen. It was as if his eyes were glued to the rapid image progression. He had no concept of time all of a sudden. It could have been seconds or hours that had passed. Then, just as suddenly as the imaging had started, it stopped.

The screen went to the title screen for Call of Duty but Devon didn't notice. He couldn't, because as soon as the imaging stopped, he collapsed backwards to the floor, unconscious.

Chuck walked across the courtyard in his now familiar melancholy mood. Since re-Intersecting himself, Sarah had gone back to the cold, disconnected agent that he'd known for the better part of the last two years. It was even worse now that Chuck knew what they both wanted. It didn't help anything to know that she really did have feelings for him if she was going to treat him as just an asset now. Dammit dad, if you had just kept your mouth shut at the reception, Sarah and I would be out of this stupid life and relaxing on an island somewhere. I wouldn't be the Intersect anymore, and she wouldn't be an agent. True, Bryce would have still been killed, and the Ring would have the Intersect, but I'd be none the wiser.

Chuck sighed in frustration. The 'what if's' were really starting to take a toll on him. He'd been so close to the life that he'd always wanted. It was as if fate had conspired to show him just enough of what he was missing to make him truly miserable. As he walked into the apartment, he heard a thud coming from his bedroom, followed by what sounded like the music from the title screen of Call of Duty.

Pulling his gun (which he was still not comfortable carrying, but which Casey and Sarah had demanded he learn how to use and keep with him at all times) from his waistband, Chuck moved as stealthily as possible through the apartment to his room. He kicked the door open and had his weapon at the ready.

"Freeze!" He then noticed the passed out Captain on his floor. "Devon?!"

Awesome came back to the land of the living with a start. What the hell was that?

"Devon, talk to me man. Are you alright?"

"Dude, that was not…good." Wait, he didn't say good! What's going on? It's as if the awesome was taken away from him. Crap!