I don't own Chuck

The next morning he awoke, finding the TV on again. On the same Buffy episode. That seemed strange. Rye had told him why, but for some reason, something was niggling at the back of his head. The switch to food had begun yesterday, well, liquids at first, and while things were…more intimate with Carina…Maria now, then he would have liked, he did feel his strength returning and was starting to feel like doing more and more each day.

He went through a battery of test that day and everything came back fine. He was just going to have to get his muscles going again, the old fashioned way. He couldn't yet walk, but there was always someone to push him in the wheelchair if he needed it.

That afternoon Awesome pushed him outside in his wheelchair. As Chuck sat in the pleasant sunshine, he noticed the blond man grinning. "You don't know how happy your family is to have you home, bro." He paused for a second. "Well, not home but…you know."

"I do," Chuck said, nodding. He thought about how this would have been his younger self's biggest dream, to have his whole family back. His mom, dad, sister…they were finally all back together. Yet, something was missing…and it wasn't just Sarah.

"Listen, I know you love that sci-fi stuff, but…I'm just gonna say it," Devon began.

"Please, do," Chuck said, knowing if this Awesome was anything like his Awesome there was no stopping him once he began.

"You're kinda freaking your parents out a bit with everything you told them," Devon told him. "They…they worry you hate them."

"I don't," Chuck assured Devon. "I don't even hate my….I didn't hate them…." Chuck was struggling. It seemed wrong to call his parents the "dream parents," because right now, they were still his parents. He wasn't sure what he thought about this Stephen and Mary Bartowski, other than they hadn't left their children.

"You don't hate anyone, Chuck, because that's who you are," Devon told him. "That's why I gotta tell you this. Bryce's girlfriend, Sarah, the one you keep talking about. She's a con woman, Chuck. She tried to con Bryce after the accident."

"Sarah?" Chuck asked.

"It's who she is man, I hate to be the one to tell you but everyone's scared to," Devon told him. "You need to know why they are so bothered by what you were saying."

"But Sarah-"

"Bro, she was a dream, and yeah, I saw her, she's beautiful, but, is she your kind of girl?" Devon asked. "I don't mean she couldn't be in to you, but does she enjoy that kind of stuff that you do?" He took a deep breath and looked remorseful. "Chuck, which one sounds real and which one sounds like a fantasy, or a dream."

"But she is my dream girl," Chuck told Devon. "I love her."

"I get it, I do, but…does she love you? Does she tell you she loves you? If don't have that thing in your head, then…" Devon trailed off.

"Does it matter?" Chuck asked, understanding what Devon was getting at. "Will she want to be with me?" Chuck looked up at Devon. Pain was on Devon's face for what he had just done to Chuck. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go back inside."

"Sure, bro, I'm sorry," Devon told him. Chuck waved at him, like it was fine, but worry began to creep in.

}o{

He had been lying in bed for sometime, the sun setting, the room going dark. He hadn't turned on the lights. He didn't feel like it, not after what he and Devon had talked about.

"Nice to see you awake," a familiar voice came from the doorway. He whipped his head around, tears in his eyes. Finally. She had found him.

"Sarah," he said softly. "I knew you'd find me."

"No, I'm not Sarah," the woman replied. "My name is Jenny Burton, and I have found you, because I'm supposed to talk to you. I'm your therapist."

"You…you're my therapist," Chuck said, confused. "But…ooooo, I get it."

"Do you?" she asked, tilting her head. "Why don't you tell me what you think you know."

Chuck looked around. "I know," he said in a whisper. "You're… 'undercover'," he told her, using air quotes.

"No, I'm not," she replied gently, a soft smile on her face. "I'm here to talk to you about what you have experienced for the past seven years. But the thing I am most interested in at the moment, is why do you think I'm this Sarah?"

"You look, sound…" he paused. "If I could smell your perfume I bet you'd smell like her."

"Who is Sarah to you?"

"Sarah Walker. She's the love of my life, my girlfriend, my…she's my world," Chuck told the therapist.

"I see," she said. "Get some sleep, we'll talk tomorrow." With that, Jenny turned and walked away from the door.

"Wait!" Chuck yelled. He tried to get out of bed but fell. He dragged himself to the doorway, and looked down the hall. The only person he saw was Maria. "Where did she go?"

"Where did who go, Chuck, what are you doing?" Maria asked, rushing up to him. "Are you hurt?"

"The blond woman, Sarah, she had to walk right past you!" Chuck insisted.

"There has been no one in this hallway but me for the past thirty minutes," Maria insisted, walking over to Chuck. Chuck sat there, stunned. "What happened? Did you dream of someone?"

Chuck looked up at her. "I guess…I guess I had to of."

"It's okay, Chuck, it happens." She bent down, and helped him stand, her arm around his waist. She guided him back to bed. "We can't lose you Chuckles. You're important around here. You're important to me." Chuck looked at her. "I like you."

Maria helped him back into bed. "Thank you," Chuck told her. She grabbed some supplies, came back and cleaned his hands up where he had fallen from the bed. "I guess…I guess it was all a dream." Maria ran a hand gently through his hair.

"Good night, Chuck, get some sleep," she said, leaving the room.

"Where the hell are you, Sarah?" Chuck asked the empty room. "I need you."