"Home sweet home," said Awesome as he opened the door to Ellie's and his apartment.

It's been two days since Chuck was shot, and he was finally dismissed from the hospital.

Chuck followed Awesome in, with Ellie on his one side, and Sarah on his other. Sarah was doing a fantastic job of looking like she was holding his arm out of intimacy, when she was actually holding a good portion of Chuck's weight.

For a gunshot wound like his, it's normally a longer stay in the hospital and a wheelchair trip home. But this situation was a little different.

"I have to leave already?" asked Chuck when Sarah and Casey visited him early that morning. "I… I can't really even sit up yet," he admitted.

"Because Ellie and Awesome believe that your injury is less dangerous than it really was, someone with a lesser injury wouldn't stay as long as someone with a gunshot wound like this one," Sarah had explained sadly. "It's for the cover."

"Normally no one would question an extended stay," Casey had muttered, "but since your sister and Doctor Doolittle are, well, doctors, can't slip it past them like that. They might ask questions."

So, here he was, Sarah keeping him from completely falling over. Ellie had set up the couch with pillows and blankets and snacks on the table. Chuck smiled when he saw it. She really is the best.

Sarah helped him over to the couch and lowered him down gently. His abdomen burned but he did his best to keep it out of his face. The less Ellie could question, the better.

"How are you feeling?" asked Ellie, standing by the coffee table, looking at him expectantly. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'm okay, El," said Chuck with a smile. "Just… tired."

"That'll fade over the next day or two," said Ellie, sitting on his other side. "The blood loss will really deplete your energy, but it should be coming back very soon. And the stitches will come off in a few weeks. How's the pain?"

Chuck exchanged a quick glance with Sarah before saying, "Uh, it's… uh… better." He cleared his throat a little.

"Well," said Ellie, "we should be checking those stitches every few hours to make sure they don't get infected." As fear chilled Chuck's veins, Ellie sat up. "Want to lift your shirt really quick? I can check for you."

Chuck shot Sarah a nervous glance, and he could see it reflected in her eyes. This is going to be harder than we thought. "Y-You know, El," said Chuck shakily. "I got it. I think I can handle it. Thanks, though, sis."

"But do you know what to look for?" asked Ellie with furrowed brows and clear disappointment.

Encouraged, Chuck said, "Yeah, totally. The doc briefed me and Sarah on it right before we left."

He felt Sarah tighten a grip on his arm. "Yeah, he did. And I'd love to be there for Chuck, I can handle making sure the stitches look all right."

Ellie's disappointment deepened, and Chuck tried not to think about how excited Ellie always got when he was hurt, even if it was only so she could help him feel better. "Ellie," said Chuck, putting a hand on her arm. "You're doing so much for me already. We got this one."

She let out a long breath. "Okay, fine. It's just that I am a doctor and you can take full advantage of having a sister as a—"

"Ellie," came Awesome's voice as he walked back in the room. "If they want to use the stitches as an excuse to remove some clothing, let 'em."

Chuck and Sarah both let go of each other and felt the awkwardness roll over them as Ellie said, "Devon, gross. That's my brother."

She and Awesome moved into the kitchen and Chuck sighed. "That was close," he whispered to Sarah.

She sighed too. "Do you want to stay with me until you're better?"

Just the thought made his heart spike in speed. But he shook his head. "It would make Ellie feel awful. I'd rather take the risk and not completely upset her. And besides," he added, "you know she'd show up every half an hour with soup or something."

Sarah's lips twitched. "She's a great sister."

Chuck smiled, looking toward her. "I know." His smile faded a little and his hand ghosted his injury.

Sarah seemed to understand. "I won't let anyone hurt you again." Again was spoken quieter, like it was hard to get out.

"Sarah," said Chuck earnestly. "I don't blame you for this. I don't even blame Casey." That was an attempt at a joke but it didn't fall humorously. "Look," said Chuck, "so far you've saved me from dozens of life threatening events. You're the best handler I could have asked for. If we really need to blame someone, I blame Bryce for getting me into this mess in the first place."

Sarah couldn't help a sad little laugh at that.

"Though I'm glad it brought us together," said Chuck. But when he realized together could mean more than he intended, he quickly amended with, "Together as friends. Colleagues. Uh, y'know, fellow Burbank residents. That kinda together…"

Sarah just rolled her eyes. "Well, you should be back on your feet soon. You might have to get back to work a bit quicker than someone with a gunshot wound would," she said quietly, "But we'll help you." A pause. "Well, I'll help you."

Chuck laughed, then winced. Sarah's hold tightened on his arm. "I'm okay," he said. "I keep forgetting not to laugh."

"Guess I chose the wrong time to start being funny," quipped Sarah dryly.

"Right," said Chuck with a smile. "Our first 'date.' That was your thing. You weren't funny." His smile widened. "I must be rubbing off on you."

Sarah lightly swatted Chuck on the arm, but couldn't quite hide the grin herself.

"All right, listen up!"

The dozen or so Buy Morons quieted the chatter a bit at Big Mike's bellow. They were in the storage cage, which had since been cleaned up after Chuck's 'accident'. There was hardly any sign that there had even been an 'accident' thanks to the NSA.

Morgan was among the group, standing with Lester, Anna and Jeff.

"Now," said Big Mike, "as we all know, one of our own was involved in a packing knife accident."

"I was involved in a real knife accident," said Jeff aloud. "Cut off a toe. No one held a meeting."

"You weren't at work," said Morgan.

"And it wasn't your toe," added another disgruntled voice.

"All y'all, shut it!" yelled Big Mike again, and everyone did. He picked up a packing knife. "To get HR off my ass, I was told to hold a safety meeting. So, naturally," he held the knife out toward Emmett. "I got someone else to do it. Emmett, take it away."

Emmett took the knife and Big Mike nodded. "Don't let anyone bleed out," said Big Mike firmly, at which Emmett nodded, seeming to take that quite seriously.

After Big Mike left, Emmett surveyed the crowd. "Chuck Bartowski," he said with a hint of disgust, to which Morgan glared at him, "is going to make a full recovery… and unfortunately that means he will return." He ignored the negative comments shot his way. "He has proven," he said over the mutters, "that any minimum wage cog on the wheel can find a way to accidentally kill himself on one of these safety-conscious knives." More mutters, and Emmett raised his voice. "Now, let me demonstrate the correct way to open one of these packages." He chose a box and tried to open the top seal, but had trouble with it. It was clearly his first time trying to open a shipment box.

"Ten bucks he stabs himself," said Anna.

Lester turned toward her. "Twenty. You're on."

"I'm in," said Jeff. "Does it count if I just stab him?"

At the same time Lester said, "No!" Anna said, "Yes."

Morgan rubbed his face.

He missed Chuck already.

Chuck sighed from the couch, watching the fourth Sci-Fi movie he's watched in a row on the TV. Sarah had decided to spend the night, despite Chuck's assurance that he was fine. The Fulcrum agent was in custody, and that was a relief in of itself. In few words, Casey had told him that it was something about revenge. Chuck hadn't even been worried about that possibility, that he could piss off a bad guy enough to become a target that had nothing to do with the Intersect. He'd swallowed hard and both hoped that he hadn't pissed off any other bad guys, and moving forward swore to himself he'd try to stay in the car at all times.

That bullet almost killed him.

He'd been trying not to think about it, but it still snuck into his mind every quiet moment, and every pain in his abdomen.

And after seeing how he terrified Ellie, and even Morgan and Awesome…

He couldn't do that to them again.

He couldn't risk the outcome being… worse than what happened this time.

But something else he couldn't quite stop thinking about, the reaction that surprised him the most, that touched him, was Sarah's.

Her face was still practically colorless, her body rigid. Even when no one else was looking, when it was just the two of them alone in the room.

And Chuck couldn't quite figure out how much of it was for the cover and how much was for…

Him.

His mind kept running to that kiss, right before Thanksgiving last year. Before Bryce ruined it (what didn't he ruin?).

Then, the kiss they shared during the Black Widow mission.

"You heard her. I'm just an asset."

"Trust me. The lady doth protest too much."

Chuck sighed.

All these secrets in his head, and the only secret he wanted to know was how she actually felt about him.

"Can I get you anything?"

Chuck blinked at Ellie's voice as she walked around the couch, looking at him expectantly. He felt nervousness flit through him, and unconsciously pulled a pillow over his injury as a reflex. Sarah had been at his side all day long; this was the first time Chuck was alone with Ellie practically since he woke up. Sarah was outside getting out an overnight bag from her car that she apparently carried with her everywhere.

Chuck looked at the full table of snacks, the four blankets on him, and the five piled on the floor, and all the comic books from his room on the chair.

He looked at Ellie. "I don't think there's anything left to get," he joked.

"Do you need another pillow?" she asked. "Or do you want it fluffed?" She started to round the couch to fluff but Chuck quickly held up his hands.

"No, no, no…no fluffing necessary," he said, giving her a smile as she looked disappointed. "You've been great, Ellie. Thanks. You're the best sister a guy could ask for." She smiled. "But I'm okay. You don't have to go crazy," he said with a grin.

She sighed, sitting on the couch next to him. "It's just…" She looked at him, and Chuck could see the worry in her eyes. "I was really scared."

If it wouldn't have hurt to move, Chuck would have put his arm around her. He settled for placing his hand over hers. "I'm okay, El."

Her brows creased. "Okay. Just… promise me you'll never do anything dangerous again."

Chuck felt something painful stir in the pit of his stomach, and it had nothing to do with the gunshot wound. Guilt swam through his veins, making his heart beat faster.

Ellie stared at him, waiting.

Chuck hesitated. "I…"

"Ready for bed, babe?"

Chuck breathed out as Awesome came to his rescue. He poked his head in from the hallway.

Ellie sighed. "Be right there," she called. She stood, then looked back at Chuck. He fought a wince. Don't ask it again, don't ask— "Do you need help getting to bed?"

Phew.

"Uh, no," said Chuck, moving to get up. "I think I've got—" Except he really hasn't tried getting up on his own yet, as even earlier—and quite embarrassingly—Sarah helped him walk to the bathroom—so the moment he was off the couch…

...he was on the floor.

Luckily he landed on the uninjured side, but that didn't stop the other side from twinging sharply. Chuck sucked in a breath.

"Chuck!"

Two sets of footsteps ran for him, and Chuck painfully got himself to his knees. He smiled through a wince. "I'm good, I'm good—just, ah, got up too fast, that's all—"

Ellie knelt next to him, worry written all over her. "Chuck! Be careful!"

"I'm okay," said Chuck again, meaning it, as the pain began dying down.

"Let me help you," said Ellie.

"I've got 'em, babe."

Awesome reached down a hand on Chuck's other side, and Chuck reluctantly took it. Awesome lifted, helping Chuck to rise up on his knees, then he slipped an arm under Chuck's arms to slowly help him to his feet.

Chuck had to admit; it was a relief not to have to walk by himself. Considering he technically shouldn't have even left the hospital yet. "Thanks, Awe—Devon," said Chuck.

Awesome walked him to his room, gently setting him down on his bed. "Need anything, bro?"

Chuck tried to catch his breath. "No," he said, "No, I'm okay. Thanks."

Awesome nodded, about to close the door when Sarah returned.

He bid her a goodnight as well, and Sarah closed the door behind her. Looking at Chuck hesitantly, she asked, "Did they see anything?"

"Nope," said Chuck with a sigh, leaning back against his own pillows. "Dodged a bullet there." He froze at his own words, but more so at the look on Sarah's face. If possible, she lost more color. "Ah," he tried, clearing his throat. "I… I mean, no. No problems."

She managed to compose herself after a second. She swallowed, nodding a little. Sarah let out a breath, sitting in bed beside him. And it would never not make his heart beat faster to have her so close. "Sarah," he felt himself say. "You don't have to stay. I'll be all right. Casey caught the guy, and I'm… I'm okay."

She looked at him, meeting his eyes. Usually he couldn't read much of anything in her eyes, for they were always guarded. But now… he could see every emotion running through them. Fear. Worry. Guilt.

She smiled a little. "I know. But I…" If Chuck wasn't mistaken, a touch of shyness touched the words. "I want to stay."

Chuck felt himself smile too.

"Besides," said Sarah. "You do need someone to dress that injury in the morning. And I am trained in field medicine." She winked, and leaned over to click off the light.

Chuck stared at the ceiling, all too aware of how close she was, and knowing that she was closer to him now than she was the last time they did this.

On the other side of the bed, Sarah blinked at the darkness, listening to the sound of Chuck breathing, alive, okay beside her.

All too aware of the four knives and gun on her, not a wink of tiredness, she planned to keep it that way.

"Is he okay?"

Awesome nodded as he walked in his and Ellie's room, where Ellie was sitting in bed, reading.

"Mission complete," he assured her. He approached the bed, staring into space for a moment.

"What's wrong?" asked Ellie.

Awesome's brows kneaded. He lifted his head. "The knife just hit an artery, right?"

Ellie sat up. "Yeah." Her brows shifted. "Why?"

"Chuck's in a lot of pain," said Awesome. "He was out of breath by the time he got to his bed. They said he lost a lot of blood but there was no organ damage, no internal bleeding. The cleanup was minimal. You and I both saw the report." He shook his head a little in awe, remembering it. Both the report and x-rays showed just what they'd been told; the knife managed to hit an artery. However, for a knife to get that deep, avoiding his ribs? "Chuck managed one of the most unlucky, craziest knife wounds I've ever seen. But even so…" He looked at her. "Shouldn't he… not be in that much pain?" Awesome's treated a few people with knife injuries, usually the same type as Chuck's; accidents. They usually go home the same day, and might limp at the very least.

Chuck's injury lost him a lot of blood, which definitely explains his fatigue and poor sense of balance, but Awesome's seen that grimace, that wince.

It's not from knife wounds that only hit an artery.

And from the fact that Ellie had the same furrow in her brow, and Awesome saw an old medical textbook in her lap, she was as stumped as he was.

"I was wondering that too," said Ellie, biting her lip, closing the book. "But Chuck's always been, well, fragile. He's never done anything remotely dangerous. He did stay on crutches in middle school a lot longer than he needed to, and he loved Band Aids as a kid. Though that could have had more to do with the superheroes on them." she mused, brows furrowing more. "Maybe he has a lower pain tolerance than most people or something."

Awesome crossed his arms. "Yeah, that makes sense I guess." He winced. "Did we just call your brother a wuss?"

Ellie looked horrified. "No, no! He's just… he's Chuck, he's… he's not the… toughest… But I've never had a knife injury and neither have you; all injuries affect people differently. Maybe it's healing in an uncomfortable place."

"Yeah, you're right." He climbed into bed and kissed her. "We'll keep an eye on him. I think we should take a look at it tomorrow."

"He only wants Sarah to check the bandage," said Ellie with a little disappointment, and a touch of hurt.

"Well," said Awesome, "he's not exactly in a condition to put up a fight. And I'm sure you can take Sarah, she doesn't look very tough," he joked, and Ellie gave him a flat look. Seriously, he said, "We're going to make sure it's healing properly whether he wants us to or not."

Ellie smiled.

Awesome smiled right back.