I apologize profusely for not updating this story for months. I started multiple different versions of what should happen next but just was not happy with any of it. Thank you so much for your kind reviews. I was absolutely terrified of posting. Here is the second chapter and if you are looking for closure, I am afraid it falls short. I have report cards to finish this weekend and three days left of school so hopefully it won't be another 6 months before I get back to this story.

Chapter 2

The downside to any government job was paper. People assumed it was all action and adventure, but between the missions came the reports where you had to justify every choice you made. It didn't matter if you were CIA. In fact, it probably made it worse.

Sarah sighed and stretched her arms as she sat hunched over a computer screen in Castle. She could head home and leave the report to file for tomorrow but she was unable to pull herself away. Sarah tried to convince herself it was simply because she wanted to finish her work. Keeping an eye on Chuck was just an added bonus and requirement of her job.

She stole a glance at the monitors to see Chuck working alone behind the Nerd Herd counter at the Buy More. Chuck would be mortified if she knew what she was doing. More so if he knew this wasn't the first time she hung around to supervise him in tasks where he would be completely capable of taking care of himself.

In recent months, he had proved himself more capable than the nerdy asset she had first been assigned. Still, she worried. She saw the innate goodness in Chuck. He may not think of himself as a hero but she knew he would do anything to keep those he loved safe. That's what she liked about him and also what terrified her. He would throw his life away in an instant if it meant saving his family, but pulling a trigger and ending someone else's life was something he could never do. In the end he really didn't think about himself enough or at all in most cases.

So Sarah kept him in her peripheral vision at all times. What he didn't know, wouldn't hurt him anyway.

She blinked tiredly and refocused her vision on the computer screen. How many reports had she filed in her career? She reached for the stack of papers on the table and caught her elbow on a half-filled coffee cup. The cup clattered to floor resulting in a puddle of lukewarm liquid.

Sarah groaned at her mistake and reached to the floor to retrieve the cup. Standing back up to find something to sop up the mess, her eyes caught a second figure on the BuyMore video feed.

Chuck was still behind the counter, but in front of him stood a hooded figure with a gun pointed directly at Chuck. Sarah was frozen for a moment. Suddenly Chuck toppled backwards and something in Sarah's heart snapped.

She started running.

Without thinking she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed 911 as she sprinted up the stairs. She didn't bother to slow down as the operator picked up. Breathlessly, she explained that her boyfriend had been shot at the Burbank BuyMore.

The pavement of the parking lot stretched out before her as she ran. She had never thought about how far Castle really was from the BuyMore before. Normally, a quick walk over to check in on Chuck and let him know he was needed. Now he needed her and she was still too far away.

She watched the shooter scramble out of the Buy More double doors in fear. Sarah pulled her gun from its holster ready to aim. He was young, dressed shabbily, shaky and probably on drugs from the look of it. He spotted her coming toward him and immediately took off scared in the other direction. She didn't have the time to slow down and aim. She didn't have the time to chase him down. Sarah had to choose, and this time she chose Chuck. She would always choose Chuck.

Sarah kept running, straight to Chuck and through the automatic doors. The bright lights of the Buy More were in stark contrast to the dimly lit parking lot from which she had just emerged. She felt briefly blinded. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her own heart as she came around the Nerd Herd desk.

Chuck lay sprawled on his back, where Sarah had initially seen him fall, staring vacantly at the ceiling. The red stain on his white shirt was the only color Sarah could see. She slid to a halt beside him. For a moment she hesitated, her breath completely stolen by her terror and her failure in keeping Chuck safe. She pushed it aside.

"Chuck, an ambulance is on its way. Just hold on," she said breathlessly.

Chuck's eyes slowly focused on her. She was afraid he couldn't see her, but a smile played across his face. Chuck could always see her though, clearer than she could even see herself.

She swiftly slipped her sweatshirt off and pressed it down hard on his chest. He groaned at the pressure and Sarah blinked back tears.

"Sarah," he breathed out barely above a whisper. "How?"

"I was in Castle. I didn't see what was happening at first. I'm sorry I took so long. I'm not going anywhere and you don't go anywhere either." Sarah answered in a shaking voice that hardly sounded like her own.

"Not going anywhere, now that you're here." He coughed and Sarah swore she saw a tinge of blood on his teeth. The grimace on his face told her of the pain he was in and her free hand immediately went to his face. Cupping his check in her palm, she steadied herself and let the warmth of his skin assure her that he was still there for the moment. There was still time.

His eyes met hers and Sarah saw the acceptance and the fear. "Tell Ellie-"He started.

"No, Chuck. You tell her yourself." She couldn't let him finish. She couldn't let Chuck tell her his goodbyes because she refused to believe that this would be it. In the short time she had known Chuck she could feel how much she had changed. Life was more the catching bad guys and giving your life to the CIA. Through Chuck's eyes, she saw herself and she wasn't a cold killer. But without him, she knew that's all she would be because it was all she had ever known.

She couldn't stop her tears now. They fell freely and mixed with the warm liquid spread across Chuck's chest and soaking her sweatshirt.

He shook his head and continued, "Please tell her, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be such a disappointment."

Her heart sank. Despite everything they had gone through in the last two years Chuck still saw himself as the failure who could never get out of the Buy More.

"Chuck, you are not a disappointment. Not to anyone." She insisted.

Chuck have her a look that communicated clearly without words that he did not buy it. He thought she was giving platitudes to a dying man. There was a sadness in his eyes that spoke volumes.

But it was honest. The only person of any value who viewed Chuck as a disappointment was Chuck.

"Sarah," he struggled for air again. "It was worth it. All of it. Just to know you."

His eyes slid closed.

There were so many things she wanted to tell him. That meeting him had changed her life. When she first met him she was a cold, calculated killer. But with him she found herself considering a real life away from being a spy. That he had changed her for the better and she was selfishly terrified that without his warmth and easy smile she would go back to being that person.

She wanted to tell him that when she thought about the future, all she could see was him. She wanted to tell him how special he was, and not just to her but to everyone he opened his heart to. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. There were too many things she hadn't found a way to say yet.

So instead she called his name.

"Chuck! Please, Chuck." She sobbed, bowing her head to his chest and holding his hand in her own.

Sarah Walker rarely cried. She had been trained to conceal her emotions and to put the mission in front of anything she felt. Chuck was her mission now, and she had failed him completely.

So she cried, more deeply than she had cried in years. With every second passing she could feel Chuck slipping away and with him went all her control.

She barely heard the paramedics arrive through the haze of tears. She had enough awareness to call for help.

Sarah was distantly aware of being pushed aside. She felt an odd detachment to the moment, as if she was the one passing away from the world. Chuck's hand slipped away from her grasp, falling limp back to the floor and Sarah Walker watched her world fall apart.