A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took an incredible amount of time. I decided to take a sort of writer's break to get my thoughts on the story together. Hopefully you guys like the chapter. Like usual, a big thanks to GladiusGrim for all the help and ideas on the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck- that's probably for the better...

August 7, 2009
Glendale, California
Castle
8:05 am.

Casey, healed and ready for work, stood tall and firm in front of a television screen filled with the face of General Diane Beckman. The only other people in Castle were several officers acting as guards, and Bryce Larkin. The monitor next to Beckman's face showed video feed of Larkin pacing back and forth in his cell. Normally, the government would have just thrown him in the psychiatric ward, but the computer in his brain changed things up a bit.

"Major Casey." Beckman said, nodding at him through the screen. "It is good to have you back. Bryce Larkin will be locked in a cell in Castle until we can find a way to remove the Intersect from his brain. He must have no knowledge of what is going on outside his cell doors. Bryce Larkin is no longer part of the CIA and we must take the precautions to ensure the safety of our information. There will be guards posted outside of his doors at all times, but I need to you assure that no information is being leaked to Mr. Larkin. Understood Major?"

"Yes ma'am." Casey gave a professional nod and waited for the General's face to flicker off the screen.

Chuck was slumped in front of his computer, watching for the thousandth time, Sarah, being wheeled into the hospital on a gurney. Doctors were surrounding her, making her face almost impossible to see. But when he did catch a glimpse of her face, he winced at her pale, ghostly appearance.

Mary Bartowski came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. She was the one who had gotten the security tapes for him in the first place and she knew he wasn't handling the situation well. He hadn't moved out of his seat for the last two hours since she showed him the security feed. She had found out about the shooting on the news. Most of the time, she wouldn't have thought twice about a shoot out in Los Angeles, California, but the fact that it happened in a small, family owned diner made her curiosity spike. After looking into some police records and scanning hospital camera feeds, she found what she was looking for; a name and a face. Both of which belonged to none other than Sarah Walker.

Chuck didn't turn his head to see whose hands were placed upon his shoulders. He already knew it was his mother and couldn't bear to take his eyes off his computer screen. Watching her go into the hospital time after time was as close as he could get to her. He knew if he went to her hospital room, he would be attacked by multiple agents. The only way he could be close to her was by watching her video a countless number of times until he knew she would be okay. In between rounds of viewing the same clip, he checked to see what her condition was. When he found that she was in a coma, the urge to kill exploded inside of him. All he wished to do was inflict pain upon her shooter. Chuck was completely capable of finding the name of the gunman, but he hadn't taken the time, nor did he want to. Instead, he asked his mother, knowing that she knew the answer.

"Who shot her?" He asked simply, not wanting his voice to jump in pitch, or crack. He wasn't in love with Sarah Walker, nor did he know her as well as he wished, but he wanted to. He wanted to spend time with her talking about unimportant things, to eat pizza or hamburgers whenever they didn't feel like cooking, to watch bad sci-fi movies when there was nothing else on television. Ever since he was a kid, Chuck wanted a normal, easy life, but the only thing he has ever had the chance to have was a spy life. A spy life filled with loneliness and deceit.

Mary's hands tensed on his shoulders, unsure of how to proceed with the situation. Her son was in a delicate state and she didn't want to trigger any unneeded anger. After a brief pause, she decided to be completely honest and just tell him. No stalling, or deflection. "Bryce Larkin." Her voice was quiet, barely loud enough for him to hear.

Mary expected him to jump from his seat, to scream in anger. He did neither. His body remained still and calm. Chuck clicked out of the video that had been playing on his monitor, opening a search to find where exactly Bryce Larkin was. He hadn't said a word in response to his mother.

"Charles, he's secure in their government base. He's not going to get away with it, don't worry." She gave him a reassuring squeeze of his shoulders and a kiss on his head. Then she whispered in her son's ear, "You can go and see her."

"We both know that's impossible."

"Chuck, they don't have any security posted in the hospital. They don't need it. Go and see her."

"She's in a coma, it won't matter."

"You can believe that if you want, but we both know it's not true." She gave him a pat on his shoulders and left him to stir in his own thoughts.

Bryce Larkin, CIA agent. Bryce Larkin, skilled gunman. Bryce Larkin, trained fighter. Bryce Larkin, attempted murderer. One day he is locking criminals up in this cell, now the doors have locked him inside and he doesn't have the key. It wasn't bad enough that he was sealed inside this concrete box, but his head was throbbing, too. He staggered up towards the bulletproof glass doors and knocked on the window. A guard standing nearby didn't move a muscle. Instead, he kept his stance; gun in hand, facial expression grim.

"Hello?" Bryce yelled through the doors, hoping to get a response.

Silence.

"My head is killing me. Do you have any aspirin?"

Silence.

He kicked the door out of frustration and went to sit on the metal bench. His life was over.

The Intersect had ruined his life.

Stephen Bartowski had hit a wall. He understood the human brain as well as technology, yet he didn't seem to be able to comprehend the two of them combined. He had studied the scans of his son's Intersected brain for hours at a time. Not once was he able to find any abnormalities. Instead, he found a completely healthy brain.

Frustrated and exhausted, he stood from his chair and walked towards the small fridge in the corner of the room. He grabbed a cup of water and thought about the scans. He had compared Chuck's brain to other brain scans and the only difference was the addition of the Intersect. By breaking into the government's Intersect files, he retrieved their human Intersect's brain scans. Like before, no huge abnormalities were present. Everything seemed normal.

Attempting to clear his head, Stephen paced back and forth in his small office. This strategy didn't work. Instead, it made his mind work faster. Just when he was about to give up, he walked towards his monitor and took one last look at Chuck's brain. That's when he saw it. The little black dot in the corner of his brain. By most people, it would probably look like a spec of dust on the computer screen, but Stephen knew it was much more than that. Still standing, he started enlarging the photo, zooming in closer on the spec. It was definitely more than dust.

He brought up a scan of Chuck's brain from when he first got the Intersect and enlarged the photo to the same exact area as the last. Side by side, he compared the two. The little black dot wasn't in the previous picture. Stephen Bartowski was sure he had found the problem, the next step was to create a solution.

August 8, 2009
Barstow, California
Unknown location
11:39 pm.

Shaw was sitting in the passenger seat of his girlfriend's car. Of course, she wasn't actually his girlfriend, or his friend for that matter. Instead, Jessica Ross was the Fulcrum agent who had captured him without handcuffs, or a locked room. She used threats against his family, which worked undoubtedly better than any restraints would work.

"Shaw?"

He glanced at her, waiting for her to continue.

"It's time for us to go on our first mission together." Her voice was abnormally cheerful and brought his attention directly towards her.

"Mission? You're not serious. You can't be serious." With just a devious smile in return, he ran his hand frustratingly through his hair. "You're serious."

"We're about a mile or so away from what looks like an abandoned house. Inside, the security is some of the best in the area. They have high-tech trackers, transmission blockers, and equipment to copy any hard-drives in a 1-mile radius. We're both going to break in and take a hard-drive copier and a transmission blocker. Understood?"

"Do you have any idea of how we're going to do this?"

"Of course."

"...And you're not going to tell me. Great." The sarcastic remark caused a giggle to emerge from Jessica's lips. Just as quickly as it had come out, she played it off as if nothing had happened. This was the first sign that Shaw had seen that proved Jessica was, in fact, a girl.

Chuck walked slowly towards the side of the hospital. Wearing a baseball cap and fake glasses, he turned the corner that led him to the right side of the hospital. About twenty feet away, he found a door locked by security monitors. Earlier that day, Chuck had found what room Sarah was staying in, and the easiest way to get their without going through the front entrance. He didn't want to take the chance of running into any government agents while visiting her. Hacking into the security monitor, he got the door open with ease. He went directly towards Sarah's room, making sure he wasn't seen. Finding the room empty, except for a limp, pale body.

Slowly and silently, he opened the door and walked towards her bed. She was so still, she appeared dead. Chuck grabbed a chair and pulled it next to the bed. Sitting down, he lifted his hand and lightly brushed her cheek. In any other situation, she would have had him pinned to the floor before she could open her eyes. But not now. Not a single muscle reacted to his touch. She didn't even flutter and eyelid. He grabbed her hand squeezed lightly.

"You'll wake up. I promise, you will. Because when you do, I'm going to take care of you and make sure no body can hurt you. I don't know how, but I'll make everything okay. I'll make everything okay, Sarah." Silently, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "I don't even know if you can hear me, but if you can, I just want you to know that Bryce Larkin won't go unpunished. I'll make sure of it." This was the last he spoke, but Chuck stayed by her side until he heard a familiar voice coming down the hallway.

Just as silently as he had entered the room, he retreated into a closet. Seconds after he shut the door, he heard the quiet steps of doctor's shoes against the tile floor. Chuck recognized the voice like it was his own. His ear was pressed against the door as he listened to her whisper quietly to herself. It had to be her.

"Doctor Woodcomb, we need you in room 217, immediately."

The doctor quickly left the room. Chuck collapsed against the door. He once again gave himself false hope. His mind was playing tricks on him, why would his sister be here. He wanted to search for her, find her, and run into her embrace. He knew he couldn't, being a spy had it's downfalls-many downfalls- and interacting with his sister would be bad. It would mean lying and sneaking around, something he wasn't ready for. Chuck realized as he leaned against the door of the closet, that he has spent his whole life hiding.

Jessica Ross, Daniel's Fulcrum partner, stopped the car several buildings away from their target. Popping the trunk, she entered into the dark night and pulled out the equipment she would need. Grabbing a gun, she handed it to Shaw.

"If you shoot me, my superiors will not hear back from me and your mother will die." She said this without hesitation and without looking for any response from Daniel. It was said as more of a reminder than a threat. He heard the reminder loud and clear.

While heading towards the building, Shaw noticed that he had a somewhat at-ease feeling with Jessica. It was like he didn't have to live up to any legacy, or be a super-spy around her. She was someone that he didn't have to take the lead for. She was the boss; he knew it and she knew it. This didn't mean that Daniel trusted her. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, but he was starting to feel comfortable around her. Liking her was out of the question, once she threatened his family, there was no way that he could ever grow to like her. As true as this was, he knew he had no choice but to pretend he enjoyed spending time with her and that he was starting to fall in love with this ill-tempered, sarcastic, cruel woman.

They were crouched in some bushes once they reached the building. Since the time was nearing midnight, everything was pitch-black. The moon was the only source of light; using a flashlight would make them stick out like a sore thumb, the exact opposite of what they wanted. Shaw stood watch while Jessica went to disarm the alarms. He could tell that she was well trained in technology, but it still took her about ten minutes to shut down the alarms.

Whispering, she said, "They'll be down for fifteen minutes, tops. Let's go." They entered the building and he let her take the lead. They headed down the hallway, loaded weapons in hand; cautiously stepping, yet with confidence and stealth. Approaching a corner, Jessica held up her hand signaling to Shaw to stop. A rustling of clothes could be heard from around the corner. Without hesitation, she turned the corner, pulled the trigger, and killed the guard.

Usually, Shaw wasn't taken aback by anything, or at least when he was he didn't show it. But now, he stood frozen as he watched the girl in front of him kill a man in cold blood. Sure, he had killed people before; and he had no doubt that these people had a family, friends, a good job, and a lot going for them. But he was told by important people that he had to kill them because they had done bad things and that it would save many people. Unfortunately, it didn't make him feel any better about himself. As he watched this Fulcrum agent kill that guard, he knew that it isn't any different than what he does. She is doing what she is told is right. Powerful people tell her to kill someone and she does it. Just like himself, Sarah, Casey, and Bryce. Just like any other government agent. The General is so intent on taking down Fulcrum, when it is organized the exact same way as the government itself.

Jessica punched him aggressively in the shoulder, "Get your head out of your ass. Come on."

Shaw grumbled to himself in response. She spun on her heel and stopped immediately making him run into her. "You are in no position to be having an attitude with me, Daniel. I need someone to have my back, if you can't do that than I'm not going to be the only one killed. I didn't think I needed to remind you of that every five minutes, but obviously I was wrong. Now wipe that ridiculous look off of your face and be a spy." With these as the last spoken words, they continued through the hallway alert and focused. There was a door at the end of the corridor that left no other place to turn. A hand-print scanner was located next to the door- of course the door couldn't have an old fashioned lock. Instead, Jessica spent another seven, or so minutes getting the door to open. While she was working on this, Shaw found it very strange that there weren't more guards in this building. She had said that it was a very high-security facility, yet he hadn't seen all but one guard. Most places with any amount of important technology or information would be crawling with guards.

Finally, she was successful in getting the door open and she stepped in. Once her foot pressed down on a tile, it sunk inward and the door slid speedily out from the wall. Unfortunately for Shaw, as he was stepping into the room, the metal door clicked into the other side of the wall with his leg in between them. His calf was clasped in a death grip between the wall and door.

Daniel screeched at the top of his lungs. The gun dropped from his hand and the leg he was standing on gave out. Pain coursed through his body. If he didn't know anything else, there was one thing he certain; he was going to die. Everything in his vision became blurry. Between screams, Shaw attempted to yank his leg from the giant metal clamp. The only thing this did was cause more agony to burn through his entire body. His head hit the floor while sweat drenched his hair. Adrenaline was powering his whole body, attempting to get free, to survive.

"Daniel!" A shriek came from the other side of the door. Jessica's hands pummeled against the solid metal. "Dan! Can you hear me?" With only cries of pain in response, she fell to her knees. "Please. Say something." She whispered.

"Help me! Jess!" Shaw's pleas were followed by wails of misery.

"I'll get you out. It'll be okay." She stood and inspected the security monitor attached to the wall. Shaking furiously, she started breaking into the monitor. Instead of the atmosphere being quiet and precise like before, now it was loud and rushed. Now she wasn't trying to open this door to steal government property, but to save Daniel's life.

August 13, 2009
Glendale, California
Sarah's Hospital Room.
2:39 pm.

Beep...Beep...Beep. Sarah slowly became conscious; the first sense to wake within her was her hearing. The steady beeping of the monitor next to her bed brought her out of her unconscious state. Bringing her hands up to her face she rubbed her eyes free of sleep and tried to sit up. Pain rushed to her midsection and she immediately returned to her former position. Moving her head, she examined her room and found a chair empty, except for a black jacket lying on the back of the chair. A small ounce of hope wished that it was Chuck's jacket in the chair, but that hope was demolished when she heard Casey's voice in the hallway. With his phone up to his ear, he walked into the room and immediately saw Sarah's alert, awake eyes.

Talking into his phone, he said, "I have to go." After a short pause, he said, "Bye"

"Water?" Sarah asked, voice hoarse.

As Casey was pouring her a glass of water, he said, "Good to see you awake, Walker." He handed her the glass and let. He was relieved to see Sarah awake after about four days in a comatose state. The doctor's assured him that she would be fine, but he needed that confirmation of seeing her awake. With her okay, his job was intact. She was one of the best partners he has ever had. If she was killed by another one of his partners, he didn't know what he would do. "I'm going to go get your doctor." Sarah nodded in response and watched as Casey walked out of the room.

While waiting for her doctor to arrive, Sarah tried to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembers is having lunch with Daniel and his new girlfriend. Then Bryce came in and...and then she couldn't remember anything else. After that, her memories went completely blank. Sarah was trying to sort her thoughts when her doctor walked in. He was quite handsome in that perfect ken doll sort of way.

"Good, you're awake." He said and pulled out a small light from his white doctor's lab coat. While waving the light in front of her eyes, he said, "I'm Doctor Woodcomb. You're pretty lucky we were able to get the bullet our cleanly. It still did some pretty serious damage to some of your internal organs, but you'll be okay after some serious R and R." Putting the light back in his pocket, he grabbed her clipboard and jotted down some notes. He looked up from his papers to see a very confused looking Sarah Walker. "R and R, y'know, rest and relaxation."

"No, no, I know what that is. But you said bullet?" Sarah asked weakly, trying to put together everything he was saying.

"Yes, you were shot in a diner downtown. You don't have to worry, though, the police caught the shooter."

"Do you know who the shooter was?"

"I didn't catch a na- hey!" Doctor Woodcomb said as a pretty brunette came up behind him and placed a hand on his arm. "Sarah, this is Doctor Woodcomb, my wife."

Sarah smiled in greeting, but her face turned to total horror as she had a sudden realization. Bryce had shot her. It wasn't an assassin, or a guy doing a hit and run, but her own partner. Slowly, her memory of the whole thing came back. Needing to talk to Shaw, Beckman, or Casey even, she once again attempted to get up. This time fighting though that pain that erupted in her gut. Before she could swing her legs off the side of the hospital bed, someone was stopping her.

"Hey, hey, hey! You're not going anywhere. Lie down." Doctor Woodcomb directed as he gently pushed her back down.

"I need to see someone. Please." She pleaded with her warmest expression.

"Sorry, doctor's orders." He seemed to get a chuckle out of that, since he was the doctor, but Sarah wasn't amused. She was used to getting what she wanted, when she wanted it.

Sighing, she asked, "Can I at least make a call?"

"Actually-"

His wife cut him off before he could finish, "Devon, honey, I'll handle this, okay?"

He nodded and left the room. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black, boxy looking object. Sliding down a piece on top, she handed what appeared to be a phone to Sarah. "It might not be as sleek as the average cellphone, but it's made with technology that won't disrupt the equipment in the hospital." With a smile, she left the room to give Sarah some privacy.

Sarah made her call to General Beckman to find out what the hell was going on. After being put on hold several times, she was able to talk to the General.

" I'm on an unsecured line." Knowing this, they both avoided using formalities in case anyone was listening.

"Understood. How are you feeling?"

"I'll survive. Do you have Bryce in custody?"

"Yes."

"When can I get out of here?"

"Since the shooting was so public, you'll have to stay in the hospital for at least their minimum recommended time."

"Understood. Thank-you." The line went dead and Sarah turned off the phone and placed it on the table next to her bed. She ran her hands through her hair, knowing that the next week or so would be extremely boring. Now that her mind was free of the most important matters, she noticed that she had to pee. Bad. She knew there must be a bathroom nearby, but the task of getting there would prove to be most difficult.

I decided on a little less of a cliffhanger this time..well except for Shaw's of course. :] Reviews are welcome, and appreciated!