I still don't own Chuck. NBC actually offered it to me, but then they changed their mind and gave it to Jay Leno.

See, I can be topical…three months too late.

Chapter 11

"Chuck! You're here!"

Chuck's felt relief rush over him as he saw that his sister was fine. Still, he didn't welcome the delay, since Barnes had a head start on them, and was probably in the building somewhere. "Hey Ellie," he said, "You knew I couldn't say no to this. And you know where I live."

"Good, I'm glad you listened to me." Ellie looked past Chuck, a slightly surprised look on her face. "Hi Sarah. You came after all."

"Well, Chuck talked me into it." Chuck could see that she was anxious to move on as well.

"Uh Ellie, is Morgan here?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah actually, he is. With Hannah." Ellie added the last part pointedly.

"Ok." Chuck said, hoping to keep things moving. "I want to go talk to him."

"I'll bet. He's over there, doing the blood drive questionnaire. Just be quick, and whatever you do, don't do anything to scare him."

"Yeah, what could possibly be scary about any of this?" Chuck muttered to himself as he and Sarah headed inside.

"Have you had any chest pain or respiratory problems recently?" The nurse didn't look up from her clipboard as she asked this.

"You mean before right now?" Morgan asked. Next to him, Hannah gave him a comforting smile, and touched his arm.

"That's 'no' for both of us," Hannah responded.

The nurse nodded, and moved on to the next question. "In the past twelve months, have you had a tattoo applied, or an ear or skin piercing?"

"Uh no. I'd never desecrate this temple," Morgan responded, pointing at himself.

"I have a tattoo on my lower back, but I got it more than a year ago."

Morgan looked over at Hannah after her answer. "Really? That's uh…" he swallowed, "that's so hot."

The nurse raised an eyebrow, before returning to the questionnaire. Hannah smiled back at Morgan.

"In the past 12 months have you had or been treated for syphilis or gonorrhea?"

"Uh no."

Hannah frowned at Morgan's questioning glance. "Are you really going to ask me that?" She shook her head. "Never go to a blood drive for a first date," she said ruefully.

"This is a date? But what about…Chuck!" Morgan sputtered as he saw Chuck and Sarah approaching.

"Hey, uh, buddy, I need to talk to you."

Morgan had known this was coming. "I know. I'm sorry about last night. She kissed me!"

"You didn't seem to mind," Hannah commented dryly.

"That's not actually while I'm here. I just…" Chuck turned to look at the nurse, who was watching them intently. He motioned for Morgan and Hannah to follow him. "Look, I just think maybe the two of you should go."

"Chuck, Morgan needs to do this," Hannah spoke up. "You can't let any bitterness over our breaking up take that away from him. Although," she looked over at Sarah, "you certainly seemed to move on pretty quickly."

"Wait, you broke up?"

"I was going to tell you that, Morgan. But I do think the two of us need some space, and…"

"Is everything ok?"

Everyone turned to see Ellie walking over to the booth.

"Uh, yeah, we're just..."

"Look, this place has become a mess. There are strange people wandering around with cameras, not to mention two of the dumbest people I've ever met."

Chuck gave Sarah a meaningful glance.

Ellie misread her brother's glance. "Yes, Chuck that includes Jeff and Lester. But anyway," she said, leading the four of them back to the table, "I need to keep everybody moving, before this turns into a complete disaster." She turned to the nurse. "Harriet, have you finished with their questionnaires?" she asked, pointing at Morgan and Hannah.

"Just finished now."

"Great. You two can go on." Ellie grabbed a chair and sat down. "Harriet, could you go find some more cotton balls in the back? We're running low."

The nurse grimaced, but eventually walked away. Ellie turned to Chuck and Sarah and smiled. "I guess I'll have to handle the two of you myself."

Harriet Collins did not consider herself to be a nosy person. Sure, working as a nurse allowed her to hear the occasional conversation that she probably shouldn't. That couldn't be helped. She couldn't very well leave a patient just because of what might some friend or loved one might say; that wouldn't be professional. Besides, Harriet considered herself to be a student of human nature. And when what she heard was salacious or revealing, that wasn't her fault, was it?

This was why she liked working the blood drive. So many questions, so many tense situations. The encounter between the four people just now had certainly seemed promising. But of course, the officious Dr. Woodcomb just had to send her away. It wasn't fair. She deserved her fun, especially now that 'Guiding Light' had been cancelled.

She thought about this as she walked into the small closet used for storage during the blood drive. Naturally, the cotton balls were on a low shelf, forcing her to kneel down. The freshly starched uniform made this even less comfortable than usual. She sighed, thinking of how little she asked for in this world.

She was so focused on her plight that she didn't notice the door open behind her.

"Ok, are you guys ready?"

Chuck glanced at Sarah. Clearly, they had to make sure that Barnes wasn't around, but Ellie would be difficult to get away from. "Uh, sure."

"Great. Name?"

Chuck gave his sister a look. "Are you serious?"

"These blood drives are serious. I can't skip any steps just because I'm acquainted with the donor."

"Acquainted? I'm your brother! You changed my diapers!"

Chuck glanced over at Sarah, who was trying not to laugh. Finally, she spoke up, "Are you sure we can't skip ahead a bit?"

"Fine. Next question. Have you been under a doctor's care in the last 12 months?"

Chuck thought about the various injuries he'd sustained in the past year, not to mention the removal and addition of various Intersects. "No." Sarah shook her head as well.

"In the past 3 years, how much time have you spent outside the US or Canada?"

Chuck mentally counted the missions that had taken him out of the country. Certainly more Latin American war zones than he'd ever planned on seeing. "Just the couple of days in Paris."

Ellie and Chuck both looked to Sarah. Chuck knew that she couldn't very well answer that question. But the clock was ticking, and from what Ellie had told them, "Sheronica" was clearly somewhere in the building.

Sarah clearly understood the situation as well. Chuck was impressed with how subtly she was able to shifted her good-natured "cover" expression to one of discomfort and nervousness.

"I'm sorry Ellie, I thought I could do this, but the whole needle thing. I have to go." She abruptly stood up and ran off.

Once she was sure that Chuck's sister wasn't watching, Sarah doubled back. Ellie's comment about strange people wandering about made her sure that Barnes and his partner were there. She needed to find them, before anyone, especially Chuck, was put in danger.

She scanned the room as she walked past. There were a few people lying on beds, each with a tube strapped to his or her arm. Clearly, the blood drive was in full force. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Morgan and Hannah lying on two of the beds. They seemed safe. So far, at least.

Several nurses were moving around busily, checking on the donors, and connecting IVs. Nothing appeared suspicious at first. Then Sarah realized that the nurse that had been talking to Morgan and Hannah wasn't there. Ellie had given her a specific task, which could explain her absence. Still, how hard could it be to find cotton balls?

Sarah looked around for a storage room or supply closet. She found a door off to the site, and carefully opened the door.

She immediately noticed the body, and the marks on her neck. Worse yet, the nurse's uniform had been removed. So the female Ring Agent she'd faced at the restaurant was there somewhere.

Though the gravity of the situation was clear, Sarah didn't panic. That, and her years of training, allowed Sara to duck out of view behind the door as soon as she heard the footsteps outside. She knew exactly who it was, and quickly swept his legs out from under him as he entered the room.

"In the past year, have you come into contact with blood that wasn't yours?"

Practically every mission, Chuck thought to himself. "No," he said aloud.

Ellie jotted something down on the sheet. "Next question: What's going on between you and Sarah?"

"Uh Ellie, I don't think that's on the form."

"I'm the blood drive coordinator. I have the authority to edit the questions when I feel it's necessary." She gave her brother a long look. "It's necessary."

"Ellie…"

Chuck's protest was quickly cut off. "Chuck, I realize you think I'm prying, and maybe I am. But I've watched you spend months mooning over Sarah, then finally you seemed like you moved on with Hannah. And now it looks you've changed your mind again. And apparently managed to shove Hannah into Morgan's arms." Ellie made a face at this last part.

Hannah and I weren't really right for each other. And I'm happy for her and Morgan."

"And Sarah?"

"I don't know. I think it's possible that we could get back together."

"And that's what you want?"

Chuck paused for only a moment. "Yes."

Ellie nodded. "Ok, then. You know I've always liked Sarah, and I'd love it if you two were a couple again." She noticed the concern on Chuck's face as he looked around the room for her. "One thing though."

"What's that?"

"I really hoped she'd have the courage to give blood. Sarah's beautiful and sweet, but she's so…fragile."

Michael Barnes fell crashing to the ground after another kick from Sarah. He glanced down on the ground, looking at the remnants of his truckers cap. He tossed the cap on top of the cooler he had crashed into. "I guess I've been outed," he wheezed.

"It's over," Sarah said. "We're bringing in Iselin right now."

"You sure about that? He's more slippery than you think." Barnes reached behind him, and pulled out the knife he'd hidden. Before he could thrust it at Sarah, she hit his forearm, sending it crashing to the ground.

"We'll see about that." She ducked a punch, and hit Barnes in the gut. "By the way. I hate your show."

"Me too," he admitted, struggling to catch his breath. He picked up the knife, and lunged it at Sarah. She easily knocked him down, sending him hurtling down towards the cooler. The knife caught on a packet of blood inside, causing a stream of it to drip onto the floor.

"Now, tell me where your partner is," Sarah said, as she stood over him.

"Closer than you think," Barnes spat.

Before she could react, Sarah felt the plastic tubing wrapping around her neck.

In case it was causing any confusion, I completely forgot that Jeff's last name was Barnes when I named the character 'Michael Barnes' in this story. Maybe I should have gone back to Korhonen…

I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. We're pretty close to the end now. Please, if you get a chance, let me know how it's going by reviewing. I totally appreciate any feedback, even if it's to tell me that I'm a hack that should stay as far away from a keyboard as possible.