A/N: *sigh* Yeah, getting this out timely…may not happen. I'm sorry. Good news is saw my family for the first time in over a year. Bad news…we're still dealing with stuff. Hang with me fam, I swear I'll get back on track.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"How was work, son?" Mary asked, as he entered the house later that evening.

"Fine," Chuck told her as he walked into the kitchen, giving her a one-arm hugged, and kissing the top of her head. "Well, as fine as it can be, for Christmas season at the Buy More."

"Why do you keep going back there?" Mary asked him. "You make more money at your business than you do there."

"Big Mike saved my ass when I went bankrupt," Chuck said shrugging. Mary gave him a look. "He did," Chuck insisted. "I mean, I know, I could have lived here… well, I actually do-"

"You live in our basement only because every time you get your own place, you flip it," Mary reminded him.

"That's so cliche," he told her. She gave him a shove, laughing. "Well, it is. Out of college nerd living in his parent's basement."

"Charles Irving Bartowski," his mother began.

"You stepped in it now, son," Stephen said, coming into the kitchen. "Anytime she uses your full name, you're in for it." Mary gave him a look.

"Oh, Jesus," Chuck nearly moaned. "Please do not start… please."

"I've used your full name many times," Mary said to Stephen, in a tone Chuck had no desire to hear.

"And I was in for it," Stephen replied.

"Oh, God," Chuck said, shaking his head, putting his fingers in his ears, leaving the kitchen. "I gotta keep one of those houses!"

"Zondra wants you to call her," Mary shouted after him. "There was a plumbing issue."

"Of course there was," Chuck muttered. "Of course there was."

}o{

A little while later, after a shower, Chuck came back upstairs to find his sister and brother-in-law had joined them. The five sat down for dinner, and Chuck found his mind returning to the conversation with the beautiful blonde woman he had seen earlier that day.

"Hey, mom, I need to ask something really weird," Ellie began, hesitantly. Chuck was completely pulled from his thoughts. It was rare he had ever seen Ellie hesitant. "There's a mom with her daughter at the hospital…"

"You want them to come to Thanksgiving dinner here?" Mary asked, intuiting where this was going. Ellie glanced at Devon, who nodded.

"Mary," Awesome began, then clamped his mouth shut as her gaze bore into him. "Mom," he corrected himself, and received a smile from her. "This family… it's really heartbreaking."

"Well, now, I have to know," Stephen said.

"So, this guy, he turned state's evidence on this manufacturing plant years ago," Devon began. "It turns out the manufacturing plant was owned by the mafia, and there were all sorts of bad chemicals being stored there, ineptly."

"Uh-oh," Chuck muttered.

Devon nodded. "So, the guy had to go into Witness Protection with his wife and daughter, but he was so scared that they were gonna find him that he only finally agreed after they gave him a new name, and his wife and his daughter a different last name. Plus, they had separate houses."

"So, he never saw them again?" Stephen asked.

Devon shook his head. "No. He and his wife were married, but he had his own house where the mail went. Apparently, he would sneak to his wife's house every night."

"That's a little much," Chuck said. "I mean, I'm not trying to be negative, or talk bad about the guy. But if they found him, and he was still seeing them… they'd find them. It's what those people do."

"It is," Devon agreed. "But he absolutely refused to testify until they did what he asked, and so they did. They've moved around quite a bit, it seems, and seemed happy." Awesome paused and sighed. "He has developed cancer. Stage four. It's not good."

"They are more than welcome," Mary told the two of them, reaching over and squeezing Ellie's hand. "But how are you going to get them to leave him in the hospital?" Ellie glanced at Devon, who frowned. "Oh," she said, nodding in understanding.

Chuck sat there, taking a second to comprehend. He shut his eyes and said a quick prayer for the family. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he had to go through the holidays without either his mother or father. He opened his eyes and saw his sister watching him. "I need a favor," Ellie began. "It's for them."

"Anything," Chuck blurted out. "Tell me, and it's done."

"I need to find a movie on Laserdisc," Ellie began.

"Big Trouble in Little China?" Chuck asked, not believing the huge coincidence.

"How in the world did you know… you've met Sarah?"

"No idea," Chuck said with a shrug. "But there was a woman today, blonde, very sad, frustrated, and worried, that was looking for a Laserdisc."

"Buddy," Devon said, leaning back, surprise on his face. "That's all you noticed?"

"Yeah, she was quite beautiful," Chuck admitted. "She was in so much pain and just… I wanted to make it better for her, I wanted to fix the problem. But her price range made it impossible, and then she was gone before…" Chuck trailed off, realizing he was about to tell everyone what he nearly did for a complete stranger.

"What were you going to do, Chuck?" Ellie asked gently.

"I found a copy, online, and I knew the seller," Chuck began.

"You were gonna buy it for her," Devon said.

"No," Ellie said, shaking her head, a proud smile on her face. "My little brother was going to do something for some guys he can't stand, just to make her day better, weren't you?" Chuck nodded. "The Collective was selling it, weren't they?"

"The Collective?" Devon asked.

"It was a group I was with, in college," Chuck said, shaking his head. "I was their number-one computer guy. They would find vintage stuff, and sell it for a nifty profit. I became their primary guy to fix their computers."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Devon said. Everyone was looking at him. "What?"

"Porn," Chuck told Devon. "And not normal porn, not that it's great but… so much porn," Chuck said shaking his head. "And-and they don't want it wiped, no, they want you to fix the actual hard drive, clean it. Sometimes the only thing you can do is wipe it, but they don't have backups, and this porn, it's from countries with viruses that… that don't make sense and… just so much porn…"

"So you can't fix them," Devon said. Chuck gave him a look. "Okay, you can, but it takes a while?" Chuck nodded. "And you hate it." Chuck nodded again. "But you would for her?"

"Yeah," Chuck admitted. "If I can make someone in that much pain feel better… then I have to, right?" Chuck looked around the table at all the proud smiles cast in his direction.

"Okay… then I will."

A/N: Huh…imagine that. What? Oh, you think I'm gonna give you a sneaky peaky? Finnnnnnne.

"Carina," Chuck said with a warning tone.

"But that is some messed up stuff," she finished. She shook her head and turned back to Chuck. "Now, about why I'm here. We need to talk…plumbing."

"I really wish that was a sexual innuendo," he muttered.

"Gotta rip it out," she told him. Chuck dropped his head back and groaned. "Zondra thinks this will up the value of the house."

"It's not that, it's the time it's going to take," Chuck told her. Carina nodded and grinned. Chuck made a face. "I guess it's time I get some more of my apprenticeship hours in?"

Huh…wonder what happens next? Stop on by tomorrow (HOPEFULLY) and find out. Take care, hug your loved ones. See you soon. DC.