A/N: I was gonna post this last night but SalishSea published her epic Chuck vs The Fight which just had me in tears and then happy tears…you say you haven't read it? GO! NOW! ….Okay, you're back, and the amazing Dillwg gave us his update on Chuck vs The Debate…wait, you haven't read it….GO! NOW! ….Okay, you're back, and finally Chesterson posted Sarah vs The Best Friend…I mean seriously? GO! NOW! ….Okay, now those were three happy chapters. I haven't been posting the happiest of things, and while this is a touch of fluff, we all needed a bit of a break. (I like this fic, but it won't leave me alone and my mind is just tired). We're getting to a pivotal moment.

A/N 2: Okay, we got a bit fluffy here because I needed it. (Why did you all let me write this fic?) Also, I lost half of this chapter…but..it kinda worked out, because I like what I replaced it with more than the original part. Ch 10 Simple vs Easy

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

He grimaced as he bent down to take his things from the washer and put them in the dryer. "I've got that," she said, feeling her strong but gentle grip on his waist, moving him away. "You don't need to be bending."

"Sarah, you're recovering from a gunshot." A raised eyebrow was her only response. "Listen, I can take care of laundry."

"I've seen your boxers, Chuck, it's no big deal."

"Sarah," he began. There was something in his voice that made her look at him. "There's not much I can do right now, and this is it."

"I tell you what," she said softly, a grin on his face. "How about once you recover you do my laundry for however long I do yours."

"But I haven't seen your intimates," Chuck replied. A smirk grew on her face. He turned red, turned around, muttering how he walked into that one, and walked away.

He sat down on the couch, tired from the past few nights of pain in his back and nightmares. Sarah came into the room, and watched him, her brow creasing. "Chuck, your ribs shouldn't still be giving you that much pain. Some, sure, but that much? Come with me," she said, leading him to her bedroom. His eyes got wide. She ignored him, but privately found it adorable. "Shirt off, lay on the bed."

"Sarah," he began, and she raised an eyebrow. He laid down, scared of what might happen if she didn't. She put her fingers along his sides by his ribs. "Is that hurting?"

"No," he replied. "It's more in my back."

"How still are you lying at night?"

"As still as possible, until I have the dream and then I'm thrashing around. Is that bad?"

"You're muscles may be knotting up," she said pushing into his back.

"YEOWCH!" he yelled.

"Yep, knotting up. Hang on." She left for a minute and he heard her rubbing her hands together. Her hands hit his lower back and he gave a half-cry, half-moan. "There are so many inappropriate things I want to say right now."

"Please don't I'm having a hard enough time with this," Chuck pleaded.

"Why are you having a hard time with this?" Sarah asked, reaching the middle of his back.

"Oh, God, that feels so good," he muttered. "Sarah, right now there's not much I bring to…" he trailed off and was silent.

"Us?" she finished for him. She stopped rubbing his back. "Chuck, is that what you were going to say?"

"Yeah," he said softly. "Us."

She grinned and began working on his back. "Chuck, you do know I've never admitted to anyone else what I did at my job but to you? You do know there's not much in my life, physically, I can't handle, but emotions…I'm not good at. You are here for me, and that means more than anything. Plus, you kinda kept me from never walking again, and that's a plus."

"I would have gladly pushed your wheelchair, just saying," Chuck replied. "Oh, your hands are magic."

"You trying to make me blush, Chuck?" His neck turned red, and she couldn't help it, she leaned down and kissed him right behind the ear. "Chuck, you bring everything I ever dared not dream to us, so never think that way again."

"Okay," Chuck agreed.

She sat back up, shaking her head good naturedly. "You're just saying that because you're afraid I'll quit doing this if you don't agree with me."

"Can't prove it," he replied. "Sarah, thank you….for everything. For trusting me, for this back rub, and for just being here for me."

"That's what you do when you care about someone," she said softly. "At least, that's what I've been told."

"Are you saying you care about me?" he asked, a cheeky tone in his voice.

She swatted good naturedly at the back of his head, hitting mostly his curls. "Yeah, you nerd."

"I care about you too, a lot," he replied. There was a commotion outside. "What is that?"

-ooooo-

It turned out said commotion was Awesome's frat buddies getting ready for a road trip to Stanford. Casey and Carina were off on a missing persons case they only told Sarah and Chuck about. They insisted they'd handle it, which she found odd, but she didn't question it. Casey and Carina were taking over the case part of the assignment, Sarah was focusing on protection, and while no one verbalized what was going on, they all silently agreed it was for the best.

-ooooo-

"Anything new, Chuck?" Dreyfus asked

"My sister wants me to go with her to Stanford for a football game and it turns out a professor there….THE professor there that got me kicked out of school, may have worked for the CIA. Casey and Carina told me they have taken care of everything so there's no real reason for me to go."

"What do you think, Chuck?"

"I think it's a bad idea for me to go," Chuck replied. Dreyfus nodded. "What do you think?"

Dreyfus smiled. "I would be curious to see your reaction."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Chuck muttered. "Any other advice?"

"How have your dreams been?" Dreyfus asked.

"Since Sarah and I have talked," Chuck began and noticed the way Dreyfus shifted. "They've changed. No one has tried to save me, no one is there but me and the masked man."

"Where's the key?" Dreyfus asked.

"What?"

"The key that Jill used to hold, where is it?"

"I told you Jill has it," Chuck replied, confused.

"No, you said she gave it back to him, the masked man."

Chuck studied Dreyfus. "But each dream is different, right?"

"Are they?" Dreyfus countered. "Only you know for sure."

Chuck didn't have an answer to that.

-ooooo-

Casey and Carina waited for the monitor to flash on. "Major, Agent, you have secured the professor?"

"Yes, Deputy Director," Casey answered. "We got to the professor, took out the assassin, and found the data hidden at Stanford."

"And the data?" King asked.

Casey held up the disk. "It has Chuck in here sir, before he was to be Intersect, while at Stanford."

"I see," King said. He sat there quietly for a second. "It's a shame the data was lost before we could see it." Casey nodded, breaking the disk in half with his hand. "However you did keep it out of foreign hostile hands so I consider this a win." He started to turn off the call when he looked at Carina. "How is he?"

"The best I can tell, he's making progress and we have no immediate worries," Carina replied.

"And if you see anything?"

"I'll react in accordance," Carina replied. King gave her a nod, and the look he gave her made something click in Casey's brain. King turned off the feed. "Casey, don't." Casey didn't say anything. He went and got a bottle of Johnny Walker, and two glasses. He walked back over, guided her to the couch, sat down beside her and poured them both a drink.

"To those we lost," Casey said softly.

"She was his fiance," Carina said softly. "I didn't get to her in time."

"But you did Walker." Carina gave him a look. "I've seen all the files."

"To those we lost," Carina replied, and clinked glasses with Casey. They drank them down, and Carina put her glass on the table.

Casey looked at her. She looked lost, younger, and vulnerable. "Ah, hell, com'ere, kid." She didn't even fight him as he pulled her in and she cried against his shoulder. "Tell numbnuts and I'll deny it." She didn't say anything, she just wrapped her arms around him and cried harder. Casey put his other arm around her, as it to protect her. From what all he was protecting her, he wasn't sure.

-ooooo-

"So you think I should go to Stanford?" Chuck asked.

Dreyfus grinned. "Nice way of changing the subject." Chuck looked away. Dreyfus took a deep breath. "Most therapists hit on the idea of closure. Closure for you would be to get your degree, to find out why Bryce did what he did to you. Going back to campus really doesn't give you any closure."

"So I shouldn't go?" Dreyfus shrugged. "You're not really helping," Chuck grumbled. "Why does everything have to be so complicated?"

Dreyfus gave him a look. "Why is it complicated?"

Chuck searched for words and sputtered. "It just is."

"Is it? Or, is it easier to say it's complicated instead of admitting everything is frighteningly simple?" Chuck stared at Dreyfus. "You don't want this to change you. It has. There is nothing complicated about that. You love Sarah and she loves you. You're both scared. There's nothing complicated about that. You're having dreams that terrify you about a man in a mask. The man in the mask is the man who scares you. There's nothing complicated about that."

"But I don't know who it is."

"Have you ever asked?" Chuck sat there, gobsmacked. He hadn't. "What's in your brain, complicated, what's in your heart and your fears, simple."

"If it's so simple why can't I figure it out? It it's so simple, why is it so hard?"

"Ah, did I say easy?" Chuck thought for a second, he hadn't. "Chuck, how do you win a basketball game? You score more points than the other team. The idea, simple. But is it easy?"

Chuck laughed. "No, just because you know what to do you don't always have the skill, or there could be other forces in your way."

"Exactly," Dreyfus answered, grinning.

"Doc, about Sarah, you said it was simple," Chuck began.

"It is," Dreyfus reinforced.

"But, what about the whole you shouldn't have a relationship built off of an intense experience because they never work?"

"First, that's a movie quote," Dreyfus said, giving him a flat look. "Second….if love isn't an intense experience are you doing it right?" Chuck blinked. He had no good answer. "Did you enjoy your time together in the cell?"

"Hell, no!"

"Do you enjoy your time together when she comforts you? Do you have these dreams when she's with you?"

Chuck thought about it. "Are you saying I'm having these nightmares because I want her to sleep with me and hold me."

"No," Dreyfus replied. "I'm asking you are your dreams trying to tell you something about your relationship and about life."

"Like what?"

"I have no idea," Dreyfus answered with an amused smile. "But if you have those dreams again why don't you ask the masked man who he is."

"Sounds simple," Chuck replied, with a grin.

"Be warned, Chuck," Dreyfus said, a serious tone in his voice. "It might be simple, but the answer could be hard, and then you'll have to deal with it."

"Progress," Chuck said looking him in the eye.

"Progress," Dreyfus replied.

-ooooo-

"Why the guitar in your office?" Sarah asked as he brought it into the gym.

"Something Dreyfuss said to me," Chuck replied. "I'm making things complicated, and this is to help me remind myself to keep things simple."

"What about at home?"

"You're there," Chuck replied. "And he reminded me that how I feel about you is quite simple."

"You're saying we're simple, easy?"

"No," Chuck replied quickly, trying to head off a blowup. "What I feel, I feel. That's simple, what we do about it, isn't necessarily easy."

"What make it easier?" Sarah asked, sliding up to him, grinning.

"Honestly, sharing a bedroom," Chuck replied. Her eyebrows lifted. "And at the same time it would make it harder." She smirked at him. Chuck walked away. "Try to have a serious conversation," he mumbled. Sarah laughed as he walked to his office. He pulled out his guitar and started to play a few cords. A thought hit him and he began to play. He began to sing, mid-song.

Oh take your time, don't live too fast

Troubles will come, and they will pass

You'll find a woman, and you'll find love

And don't forget that, there is someone up above

He felt her eyes on him. He quit playing, and turned in his chair, facing her, her expression unreadable. "Simple," Chuck said softly. She nodded.

"I think I'm changing rooms."

"Not yet," Chuck replied. "There's one more thing I need to take care of, and if you're there, I don't know if I'll have the dream." Sarah nodded.

-ooooo-

He bolted upright in bed, his eyes wide. "SARAH!" he shouted. Seconds later his door burst open and she turned on his light. He turned to her, shock on his face. "I need to see Dreyfus! Now!"

A/N: And be a simpllllleeeeee kind of man…be something you love and understand…. The least oofy yet. In the original version he went to Stanford, but why? What did it do for this story? I couldn't come up with an answer, so I switched things up. Wait, did I say he needed to deal with Bryce? Oh boy. (don't worry Dillwg I think this time you'll be happy.) Reviews, cupcakes, PMs, cookies, hugs, messages, whatever, are all appreciated.

DC