A/N: I said at the beginning this wasn't canon at all. This was always the plan, so buckle up. I hope I did this chapter justice. And for those of you who have noticed Chuck's weird fascination with Sarah's parents….well…maybe this helps that make more sense.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

The camera opens on Ellie, who is frowning. "So, we're going to talk about this? Everything's been cleared?"

The producer speaks. "Yes, Volkoff Industries has cleared everything."

Ellie nods, her frown deepening. "It's hard, you know. For so long, we couldn't talk about it. I think four people knew before Sarah. Well, four people that weren't part of Volkoff that is." Ellie blew out a breath, and looked at the camera. "Mom, you can come home now if you see this, he's gone."

}o{

Chuck and Sarah were having dinner at the same Mexican restaurant as the week before. This time it was just the two of them, and unlike last time, they were talking, having fun, enjoying themselves…and then Chuck's phone rang. "Hello?" Chuck answered seeing it was Ellie.

"Where are you, and are you with anyone?" Ellie asked.

"I'm having dinner with Sarah," Chuck replied.

"Listen, I know this is a huge ask, but hand her the phone, I promise I will tell you everything that is going on in just a second okay?"

"Okay, El," Chuck replied. He handed the phone to Sarah. Sarah said hello and listened. She never took her eyes off of Chuck. She murmured an okay and handed Chuck back the phone. "Ellie what is going on?"

"I'm at the hospital," Ellie explained. "Sarah is going to bring you here." Sarah was flagging down the waiter as the two talked.

"Is it Molly?" Chuck asked.

"No, Chuck," Ellie answered. He heard it in her voice.

"Jesus," Chuck muttered. "Is it any of our friends or family?"

There was a paused, and then Ellie answered, and he thought his heart might rip out. "No," she said simply.

"I'm on my way," he replied horsely.

}o{

The camera cut to Sarah sitting in the interview chair. "You know, at this point, I think there was still a possibility that after this project was over, I could have walked away without a romantic relationship with Chuck Bartowski. I didn't want to, but I think I could have. I think it would have hurt like hell, and I'd of regretted it for the rest of my life, but I could have. Up until this point. After this…" She chuckled and shook her head. "I was done. I just didn't have the good sense to know it."

}o{

Sarah drove them there as quick as she could. Silence filled the car, but what bothered her the most was the look on his face. There was a mixture there that if she were forced to guess was one part sadness, and one part…hate? They pulled up, parked, and Sarah shot out of the car and over to him. She was beside him step by step as they entered the hospital.

As they entered a wing she had never seen before, Chuck stopped short. She followed his gaze and saw a man she recognized, but didn't know his name. "What is she doing here?" the man asked.

Before Chuck or Sarah could respond, Ellie stepped out of the room behind the man. "She's here with him. She's in his circle, Alexi. Sarah was with him at dinner when I called him. Did you want Chuck to have to call a ride share, and him talk during the ride over?"

Alexi Volkoff, one of the richest and most influential people in the world, looked at Ellie, back to Sarah, and finally to Chuck. He made a "hrmph" noise and nodded.

"What do you care anyway?" Chuck snapped. "Your part of this nightmare is almost over. If you're here, I guess that means my father's body gets to join his mind." Alexi just stared daggers at him. "And so you know, I'm telling her everything. You can take your NDA and shove it up your ass." Ellie stepped in between the two men, her hands on Chuck's chest. Sarah had Chuck's near bicep in her hands.

"You're obviously dealing with grief," Alexi said, in a cold, harsh voice. "I am going to forget the tone you took with me. Tell her, but know if the press hears of this…." The warning hung in the air. "You seem to forget all I've done for you."

"I won't forget you destroyed my family," Chuck spat.

"Enough," Ellie told him.

"Chuck," Sarah said. He turned to her. "You're not here to fight with him." Chuck nodded. Ellie backed off, giving them space. "I'm here."

"Go inside," Ellie told Chuck and Sarah. Sarah nodded, and followed him. He paused at the door and looked back at Ellie. "It's okay."

"No, Ellie, it's not, and it never will be."

"You're right," Ellie said with a sigh. "You're right." Chuck nodded, and opened the door.

}o{

The camera cut to Chuck and Sarah sitting in the interview chairs. Sarah's hands wrapped around Chuck's bicep. "When I was a little boy, my dad was my hero, you know? He was a master computer programmer. I wanted to be him. Afterward….I didn't."

}o{

Sarah stood with Chuck, looking down at what she could only describe as a shell of a man. "Over a decade, just laying here," Chuck said softly. Ellie entered the room and stood beside Chuck, Sarah was standing on the other side of him. "The thing is, Dad's been gone since the day the accident happened, just no one told his body." He turned to Ellie. "Do we tell Mom?"

"No," Ellie replied. "She has her own family now." Chuck nodded. They stood there, the beeps of the heart monitor getting further and further apart. "He hasn't got long."

"This is so messed up, El," Chuck said softly. Ellie simply nodded. The heart monitor suddenly flat-lined. Ellie moved quickly, hitting the alarm in the room, and she began compressions. Chuck moved back to the far side of the room taking Sarah with him. The crash cart came in, ready to try and revive him. "Why, Ellie?" Chuck said. She looked up at him. "Let him go, he's been gone for so long."

"Doctor?" the doctor with the crash team asked. Ellie looked at Chuck and then nodded. "Time of death."

"Come on little brother, let's get out of here," Ellie told him, leading him and Sarah outside.

}o{

A little while later found all three of them, sitting at some picnic tables, near the shore, the waves crashing in the distance. "What do I need to do?" Chuck asked, breaking the silence.

"Nothing," Ellie told him, reaching over and patting his leg. "Everything is already preplanned and prepaid for." She glanced at Sarah. "We owe you a story."

"No, you don't," Sarah disagreed.

"Yes, yes we do," Chuck insisted. "When we were kids, everything was great. Mom and Dad loved each other, they loved us, and we were what every family was envious of…until Dad got the promotion at Volkoff Industries. Dad got the idea that a computer could be directly hooked to a brain and used to deduct things at a much faster scale. He received funding for it, and worked on the project like mad."

"It was a complete failure," Ellie told Sarah. "Volkoff kept making dad vague promises that if it were to work he'd be rich beyond his wildest dreams. Dad didn't care about the money personally, but he had so many dream projects. He was ready for the next step, a live participant."

"Wanna guess who he decided it should be?" Chuck asked her. Sarah shut her eyes. "Lit him up like a Christmas tree."

"Jesus," Sarah breathed.

"Yeah, the thing is, that was the beginning of his death," Ellie told Sarah. "It fried him, he began to act weird, irrationally, and he became just sure that mom was having an affair."

"He told mom one night that if she ever tried to leave him and take us, he'd hunt her down and kill her," Chuck told Sarah. Sarah's eyes went wide. "My father died a long time ago, Sarah. Today, his body just caught up."

"Mom left that night," Ellie told Sarah. "We found her a few years back, well…Chuck did. He's really good at googling." Ellie went on to explain how Chuck is so good at googling as the waves crashing into the sand somehow grew louder where you couldn't overhear Ellie.

}o{

The producer speaks. "Wait, she's not really talking about googling.

Sarah is in the interview chair. "He's just really good at it," she says with a grin and shrugging her shoulders.

The camera cuts to Ellie. "He just knows how to google," Ellie insists.

The camera cuts to Devon. The producer speaks. "Do you know about Chuck and his computer skills.

"Oh, absolutely," Devon said, as he leaned forward. He looked left then right. "He's really good at googling," he said in a low voice.

The producer speaks. "Do you really believe that?"

"That's what Ellie keeps telling me," Devon insisted.

}o{

"So mom, is now in a different country with her new family," Chuck told Sarah. "Neither of us are mad at her, he'd of killed her, Sarah."

"Is he why you don't work with computers much, even though you're so good at…" she pauses, and looks at Ellie. "Googling?"

"Exactly," Chuck replied, laughing. "It was a few years after mom left that dad's body began to betray him and that's when he ended up in the hospital. Alexi came to us, had us sign some documents, told us he'd make sure our needs were met, and then basically left the two of us to support each other while a check came each week."

"Oh my God," Sarah said, looking from one to the other. "That's…that's…"

"Criminal?" Chuck offered. Sarah nodded, still in shock. Chuck shrugged.

"You okay, babe?" A voice boomed behind them.

"Fine, Devon," Ellie said. "I'm going home with my man, you okay?" Chuck nodded. Ellie hugged him and then Sarah. "Call me if you need me."

"Will do," Chuck promised. They watched Ellie and Devon leave. "Sorry the way the night turned out. I guess you understand why now I thought it was so cool all the stuff your parents had done for you."

"Yeah, I do," Sarah told him. "You know, you probably need a shower and bed, you've been through some stuff."

"I'm fine," Chuck assured her. "Why don't you head home, I'm just gonna sit here for a while."

"Chuck you can't just sit out here-"

"Sarah, I can't be in that apartment by myself tonight," Chuck cut in. "I can't. I'm just gonna sit here…and…" she heard the tears. "Damn it," he swore softly.

She stood up, came around, and wrapped her arms around him. "Okay, come on, we're going to your apartment, and I'll stay there with you."

"You can't do that, do you know what people will think?" Chuck asked her.

"I don't care."

"I do," Chuck replied. "I can't do this to you."

"You're not doing anything to me," Sarah told him. "Fine, if you won't let me go to your place, you're coming to mine."

"Sarah, I don't have any clothes," Chuck insisted.

"You have a change of clothes at your studio, I know you sleep there sometimes," Sarah countered. "Chuck, you're not running me off tonight. I'll accept the consequences of you being angry at me later, but I am not letting you go through tonight by yourself. Complicated or not, your father died."

"Okay," Chuck relented. "What do you think is better?"

"You would probably be more comfortable at your place, but if it's privacy you're worried about, I think mine is the better choice." Chuck nodded. She took his hands, and helped pull him to a standing position.

"Thank you, Sarah, you don't have to," Chuck told her.

"Yes, I do, I care about you, Chuck," she told him. He gave her a weak smile, and let her lead him to her car.

}o{

"Didn't have the good sense to know it," Sarah said, shaking her head. "I was so in love with Chuck Bartowski…and I was starting to figure out what to do about it."

A/N: Yeah…I know. Next time:

"So, to sum, I have called him the man of your dreams and love of your life, and you have not told me I was wrong," Mark began. Sarah rolled her eyes. "And, you care for him to the point you won't even do anything that might be construed as taking advantage of him." He paused. "Sarah, you're in love."

"I KNOW!" Sarah replied.

Oh…oh no. Whatever will happen next? *turns to camera and smirks*