Awesome sighed.

It was nearing his eleventh hour of his shift at the hospital. Already he was three surgeries in. He could feel the fatigue setting into his eyes and into his muscles. It was nearing the afternoon now and he can't even remember when he got here. It didn't help that Ellie spent most of yesterday evening upset that Chuck had chosen last minute plans with Sarah over a dinner with her. Again. Ellie had tried to get a brother-sister dinner with him several times in the past month, but something always seemed to come up. As they always seemed to with Chuck these days.

But fatigue be damned; he was a surgeon and this is the life of them. He saved lives on a daily basis and even if that screwed his sleep schedule—and a date night or four thousand—he was okay with that.

Speaking of which, he promised Ellie a date night, an attempt to cheer her up. She was off work today and he would be home soon enough to make her dinner and even some pecan pie. Throw in her favorite movie (one he did not consult Morgan on) and it was a perfect night. She certainly couldn't handle another promised dinner plan to be canceled, so he hoped nothing would push it aside.

He leaned his back against one of the reception desks to take a breather before his inevitable next patient. He had no scheduled surgeries for the rest of his shift so his workload relied on people coming in and needing to be sewed back together again.

He was about to get up to get some coffee when the doors to the OR wing burst open—the clear precedings of his next surgical puzzle—and he straightened immediately, ready for action.

He wasn't called Awesome for nothing.

Three EMTs were wheeling in a gurney and trading medical phrases between each other, of which he caught, bleeding and severed artery.

That was his cue.

"Who's the working surgeon on this floor," asked the male EMT to their receptionist.

She pointed to Awesome at the same time he stepped up.

"At your service," he began, "what do we ha—"

His words died in his throat as he saw the man lying on the gurney.

It was Chuck.

So still and so pale and there was so, so much blood. One of the female EMTs had her hands pressing a gauze pad over his stomach to stem the flow but it wasn't doing much.

"Holy—" he managed to get out, his breath knocked from his lungs. "Chuck—"

The male EMT did a double take. "You know this man?"

"He—he's my brother-in-law," said Awesome, even though he and Ellie weren't married yet and Chuck technically wasn't his brother in law yet, it just came out.

"Well," said the EMT, continuing to wheel Chuck through the next set of double doors that led to the OR. "Get a surgeon ASAP."

"I am a surgeon," snapped Awesome, following them.

Chuck, oh my god, it's Chuck.

Shock was setting in.

There's so much blood.

A firm hand clapped on his shoulder and yanked him back.

Awesome fought it. "Let me go, that's my—"

"—brother-in-law," said a familiar voice. Awesome watched Chuck disappear through the OR doors as his chief of staff said, "You're not operating on him, Devon. I already sent Tony."

Awesome jerked against the grip again, desperate. "No! Henry, I can save him just let me—"

Henry turned him around and gave him a hard look. "Under no circumstances will you be operating on a member of your family."

"But—"

"You're too emotionally attached, Devon! You know that kind of liability and you agreed to it the moment you were brought on board at this hospital. If you go near that room, you're fired."

Awesome stared at him with a mix of anger and panic.

So much blood.

Henry's gaze softened. "You're tired, Devon. And you're scared. That doesn't help his chances. You let them do their work because that's what's best for your brother. Got it?"

Your brother. Awesome had three brothers of his own blood, but it has never sounded so right than it did now.

And somewhere in his mind he realized his boss was right, that he wasn't concentrating or thinking straight.

Because that was Chuck.

"I'll give you an update as soon as I can. Just let them work."

He left Awesome standing alone, staring at the doors.

Just then, the other doors burst open.

Awesome whirled around to see Sarah standing just outside of the swinging doors. She was pale and had panic in her eyes.

Awesome was beside her in milliseconds.

"What happened? Why is he bleeding?" he demanded.

Sarah blinked in shock at the sight of him, seeming to process his presence and his questions at once. It took her a moment, but she said, "I—he was at work. He cut himself with a knife."

There was so much fear in her eyes.

"I saw," he said quietly. "What was his blood pressure?" At her blank expression, he went on, "Did you see it on the monitor in the ambulance? Did you see anything?"

She shook her head. Her eyes sparkled suddenly, threatening tears.

"I—no, I didn't. It… happened so fast."

"They just took him in now," said Awesome. "I can't operate on him because we're related," he growled out half-heartedly. "But Tony's a good guy, a good surgeon. He'll fix Chuck up in no time."

And it was true; Awesome was relieved to hear it was Tony. He and Tony were friends. He and his girlfriend had even gone on a few double dates with himself and Ellie.

Oh, god.

Ellie.

"Sarah," he said, and she lifted her head from where she stared after the doors Chuck went through, looking like she was torn from a daze. "I need to go home and… talk to Ellie." There was no way he was telling her something like this over the phone.

Sarah swallowed and nodded.

Awesome started taking off his lab coat. "We'll be back soon. Can you.. stay here? With him?" he asked.

Sarah nodded. "Of… of course."

He looked at her sadly. She'd always seemed so put together when Chuck would bring her around. It was weird seeing her so… lost.

"The waiting room is this way, I can lead you there," he said gently. He lightly put a hand to her back and led her back through the doors to a more open room, where several people were sitting around with newspapers or books.

Sarah sat down. "Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked softly.

Awesome felt his heart clench. He squeezed her shoulder. "I'm sure of it."

He wasn't, but it made her face warm the slightest bit.

As a surgeon he was taught to never tell anyone those words, never to predict a good outcome, and never to promise it. But this was Chuck. Awesome wouldn't accept a world where he couldn't promise that.

He left her then, heading toward his locker for his keys, wondering how the hell he was supposed to tell Ellie.

"General."

The screen had flashed on before she'd been ready, and Casey watched her eyes flick to the camera. She was on the phone with someone but at his look she hung up without a word.

"What is it, Major Casey?"

"The Asset's been shot." said Casey. He put the Castle remote down on the desktop and cleared his throat.

Her all-business expression morphed into shock. "What?" Then, "Is he dead?"

It no longer phased Casey to hear the living status of humans spoken in the same tone as "Is it raining outside?" but for some reason, this time it did.

"Chuck is still alive," he said. "At least he was when he was admitted. Agent Walker is waiting for information there."

Beckman removed her glasses. She sighed sharply. "How did this happen?"

It was less of a question and more of an accusation. One that Casey took personally. "It was… a mistake. One I take full responsibility for. A Fulcrum agent found him at the store, I didn't..." It's a little hard for him to get that out. "I should have been there."

It took Beckman a moment to reply. "Half responsibility," she said finally. "Agent Walker is just as much his handler as you are, Casey." Another sigh, and maybe something almost human passed through her eyes. "Let me know as soon as you get an update. And in the meantime, find that Fulcrum agent, Casey."

He gave a fractional nod, and the screen snapped to black.

He pulled out his gun, loading it, flicking his eyes to the monitors that were racing through CCTV footage, following the license plate of the van the Fulcrum agent took off in.

Finding the son of a bitch who shot —and possibly killed, he thought with a coldness—Chuck was his one and only priority.

Orders or not.

Awesome opened the door to the apartment and walked inside.

Ellie was sitting on the couch watching some cooking show. She looked up as he entered. There was still a furrow in her brow that was there all last night, and Awesome realized she was still upset with her brother.

His chest hurt.

"Hey," he said, swallowing hard. Took a breath. Braced himself. "El… Chuck—"

Her eyes turned back to the TV, her expression hardening. "Chuck, what? Has more excuses for standing me up again? Well, I don't want to hear it."

Awesome shut his eyes. Tried again. "No, he—"

Something changed in Ellie's face, and she muted the TV. "Wait." She looked at her watch, and back to him. Tilted her head quizzically. "I thought you didn't get out for another two hours."

"I didn't," he said distantly. "I mean, I do, I mean, I was supposed to—"

Ellie turned off the TV. She finally seemed to notice something was up. "Honey, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale?" Doctor Ellie was suddenly on her feet and walking toward him.

"I'm okay," he said quickly. "I…"

How was he supposed to tell her?

"Devon, you're scaring me," she said slowly. Her eyes burned into his, searching. "What's wrong? Why are you home early? Did something happen at the hospital?"

He took a breath. "Okay. I don't really know how to say this, El…" He looked at her. "Chuck got hurt."

Her brows shot up. She obviously wasn't expecting it to have to do with Chuck. All her annoyance with her brother was gone in a flash. "Chuck? What are you talking about? What do you mean he's hurt? Hurt how?"

Awesome blinked at the rapid questions. "He was being wheeled into surgery when I left. Apparently—"

Ellie made a small squeak. "Surgery? For what?"

"He was at the Buy More and he cut himself on something," he finished.

"On what?" she asked.

"Sarah said… something at work?" Did he get that far in the conversation?

"Where did he cut himself?"

"Lower abdomen."

She looked at him with an intense stare, the same one she used when she was trying to figure out if he was lying about having done the laundry. "Wait, he cut himself and is in surgery? Why does he need an operation?"

Awesome gave half a shrug. "I… don't know. I guess it was a deep cut. All I saw was…" He trailed off.

Ellie was rigid. "What? All you saw was what, Devon?"

"Blood." He swallowed hard. "A lot of blood."

That made Ellie hesitate, knowing that if he thought it was a lot, it was a lot. And enough to make him this pale was bad.

"Did you hear..?"

"They wouldn't give me anything," he said with slight annoyance. "I wanted to be in the room. I don't know any details."

Ellie picked up her sweater—her lucky sweater— from the couch. "Let's go."

Sarah drummed her fingers against the plastic arm rest of the waiting room chair. It's been at least half an hour. The room was empty except for her—seems no one else had a loved one in critical condition.

She stuttered at the wording in her thoughts.

Friend. A friend in critical condition.

She shut her eyes and rubbed her temples.

An asset.

Her asset, who was shot and bleeding out. She was his handler dammit and she let an armed enemy walk right up to him and shoot him point blank.

Some voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she's had assets in the past that have gotten hurt and sometimes killed, but none made her feel as much as Chuck.

No one has made her feel anything quite like Chuck.

"Sarah!"

Sarah snapped out of her daze. She looked over to see Morgan rushing into the room. He was panting and out of breath. "Morgan?" she asked hollowly.

"I pedaled as fast as I could!" he huffed out. He bent over his knees to catch his breath. After a few seconds he asked, "Is Chuck okay?"

"I don't know," said Sarah honestly. "He's in surgery."

Morgan sobered up a bit. "S-surgery?" he asked in a small voice. "H-he needed surgery? Wh-What about like stitches or something?"

Sarah bit her lip. His innocence made her miss hers badly. "I… I guess it was worse than that."

Morgan ran a hand through his hair and collapsed into the chair next to her. "But it was just a box cutter!"

"Even the worst conditions can be caused by very simple accidents," said a voice to their left. A doctor walked through the doors.

Sarah shot to her feet. "Is Chuck alright?"

She gave Sarah a calculating look. "The woman who spoke to the paramedics?"

Sarah knew what that meant. The CIA agent who spoke to the paramedics? She nodded.

"Please come this way."

Sarah looked back at Morgan. "I'll be right back."

He looked like a lost puppy. It actually hurt to see.

Sarah followed the doctor into an empty room.

"How bad is it?" asked Sarah the moment the door closed.

"He's lost a lot of blood," said the doctor, and Sarah waited, rigid. "The bullet tore an artery and broke two ribs." She sighed. "They've managed to stop an internal bleed quickly enough but it will take time to see his reaction to the transfusions."

Sarah shut her eyes, letting out a breath, feeling no better now than she had. "Thank you," she said anyway.

"I will keep you updated on his status," she went on. "But we're treating it as a…" She looked at the clipboard in her hands. "Packing knife injury?"

Sarah nodded. "It's a matter of national security that this stay between you, the paramedics and the doctors in that room."

The woman nodded, seeming slightly intimidated by that, but trying not to. "Understood." she said.

Sarah thanked her again and the doctor left her alone in the empty room. Sarah checked to make sure the door was fully closed, then pulled out her cell phone and called Casey.

"He's still in surgery. They're saying it's too early to tell." she told him before he had a chance to speak.

A slight pause, then: "There could be worse news." There was an emotion in Casey's voice, and it surprised Sarah a little. She was used to hearing the man's robotic-like responses. And here, he almost sounded worried. Up until now she didn't think he had that emotion. Or many at all, really.

"Tracked the Fulcrum agent," said Casey, and Sarah realized the fuzzy background from his line was from driving, at apparently quite the speed. "Caught the license plate going east. He took out the store's security cameras and hacked the CCTV four blocks around, but not ours. We got his facial recognition. Chuck said his name was Agent Bradford."

Sarah nodded, feeling her chest loosen a little. "Do you have a team to cut him off if you—"

"I've got six."

Sarah smiled.

Casey had never called more than three backup teams, for anything.

"Try to keep him alive," she said, the words half-hearted, shaped by her orders and not her interests.

"No promises."

That made her grin, until she remembered where she was, and why she was here.

The expression faltered.

"I'll keep you updated," she said, and hung up. Sarah took a moment to compose herself—or, uncompose herself—to resume her role as the scared, worried girlfriend.

Which wasn't hard at all to fake.

Sarah walked back into the waiting room, and relayed the update to Morgan.

The two of them sat side-by-side in silence.

And suddenly Sarah was missing Chuck. His rambling in a panic-inducing situation, his determination and courage that always came out of nowhere.

She could really use some of that now.

She could really use him right now.

But what if he didn't make it through?

She felt a hot tear run down her cheek and, surprised, she hastily wiped it away.

She hardly ever cries.

Another came.

She let herself cry, however.

It was good for the cover.