I don't own Chuck

One week ago

Chuck took a sip of his Chardonnay, another Ring bank account wrecked. He wasn't sure who this Volkoff character was, but that was the fourth deal with the Ring Chuck had mucked up in the last two days. A flash hit him when he thought about Volkoff. He blinked.

"Yeah, there are bigger baddies than the Ring," Bryce said, leaning against the desk, his arms crossed.

"I'm never gonna be done with this, am I?" Chuck groused.

"I wouldn't say never," Bryce replied. "It's just…complicated."

"Ellie hates that word," Chuck said, typing again.

"Chuck, we need to talk," Bryce began.

"You know how bad that phrase is?" Chuck asked, going back to hacking. "Listen, I know you and Sarah had a history, and I don't want to know about it."

"Chuck," Bryce said, trying to interrupt.

"Bryce, let me get this out," Chuck insisted. "I know what you think of her, but I know what I think of her, so you need to let us do whatever it is we will or will not do."

"Buddy," Bryce tried again.

"Sarah moves at her own pace, and we've had our issues, and the asset thing and it's been a lot, for both of us, but what you don't understand is, I trust her, with my life," Chuck went on.

"Buddy, I'm degrading," Bryce said.

"And," Chuck bull-rushed on. "I'm going to tell her everything and let her go from there. That's the only fair thing to do." He paused, done speaking and what Bryce said finally sunk in. Chuck turned to Bryce. "Wait a minute. What the hell do you mean degrading?"

"Chuck the Intersect was built to retain information, and while you'll always have access to everything I know…" Bryce trailed off. Chuck stood, concern on his face. "Hey, I'm really dead."

"Yeah, but…but…you're not," Chuck said, gesturing toward Bryce.

"Well, I am, but thank you," Bryce said with a grin. He sombered. "All I know is everyday, more and more of me is slipping away, and soon all you'll have is facts, files, and things the Intersect was built to process." He looked down at himself and then back to Chuck. "I am not one of those things."

"I can fix this," Chuck said, wiping his hands on his pants. "I can-"

"Chuck," Bryce said gently. "No…no you can't." Chuck looked up at him. "And it's okay."

-ooooo-

Now

"So he's got Volkoff running around mad," Casey said, pointing toward Russia.

"Why is that important?" Ellie asked.

"The biggest illegal gun supplier in the world?" Casey asked. Ellie's eyes went wide. "Exactly." Casey pointed to twelve red x's throughout the United States. "These are all cells Bartowski has basically shut down through emptying their bank accounts and recording information and hacking Ring members computers."

"So what's the problem?" Ellie asked.

"We are trying to find out who are the 'Twelve'," Casey explained. "The supposed head of the Ring, or the Elders. We think Shaw is one of those Elders." Ellie nodded. "If we knew the other eleven, we could really support your brother."

"I see," Ellie said.

"We know you're getting your information through your father," Casey told her. Ellie smirked. "Have him look through the data he's collected and see if he can figure out who they might be."

"Okay," Ellie answered, studying the map.

Casey watched her. "The sooner, the better," Casey urged.

Ellie looked up at him. "Who says he hasn't heard you and isn't already doing it?" Casey just stared at her. "This assignment really isn't your favorite, is it?"

"I hate this assignment," Casey growled.

-ooooo-

Two days ago

What the hell was Chuck Bartowski up to? That's all Sarah could think about. How had he found out about her safehouses? Not that she was mad, she'd of gladly told him about them, in fact, she was thinking about using some of them when they ran. There was no way he was dead, that she was sure of, but that meant he had faked his death, and she was going to slap him silly for even making her worry like that. For making her wonder, was he alive. He was alive, he had to be alive. If he wasn't she'd kill him.

-ooooo-

Two hours ago

"Bryce," Chuck said out loud. "Bryce!" No answer. "The terrible troll raises his sword." Nothing. Tears began to fall from his face. "Attack troll with nasty knife," Chuck said softly. There was no flash, there was no Bryce. He was gone. Chuck knew the past few days Bryce hadn't been the same. And now, he was alone. Chuck Bartowski was truly and completely alone.

He had his father he could contact on secure channels through the computer. He could pass messages to his sister, but he was in Austria, alone, trying to stop The Ring, and he had no one. She was supposedly coming, but would she? The entire time he had gone forward with his plan, there was one thought in his head. He loved her, and he knew he did, but he had never stopped to ask himself, did she love him.

And know, he was all alone. He went outside, grabbed the ax and began to chop wood, trying to will his pain, his hurt, his loss of his friend, through his arms and shoot out through the end of the ax as he split each log. He tried to make himself believe he had done the right thing. But had he? Had Bryce ever really been there, or was he absolutely insane? Had his mind conjured up the whole thing?

He chopped wood for an hour straight, proud of his growing endurance, when he felt them. He felt eyes on him. He swallowed, and slowly turned. Was she real? Was she a trick of the mind….another trick of the mind? And then those blue eyes held his, and every worry, every question he had, left. She had found him.

-ooooo-

There he was, chopping wood. He turned and their eyes locked, and in that moment, she knew exactly what the phrase, "My guy," actually meant. She was going to kiss him, and slap him. She wasn't sure of the order, but both were going to happen, and there was a good chance she was going to kiss him more than once.