A/N: Hi, good news, I finished the rough draft today…ROUGH. (Yes I had written the epilogue but I had to, so I would know where I'm going) Baring any more issues, over the next 3 weeks you should get a chapter a day…there may be one day you get three, just to get you through the tiniest hint of angst, but isn't really angst. It's me, it's Christmas…you know what you're getting yourself into, and if you don't all I can say is find your die a betes medicine cause you're gonna need it before I'm done. Thanks for hanging with me folks, on to the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"I am so sorry," Sarah began. Chuck held his hand out for the rag and she handed it to him. She winced as he pressed the cloth against his head and made his own wincing face. "Do you need to go to the hos…pital….don't you work at the Buy More?"

Chuck sat there, soaking wet, wondering how else his day could go wrong. While he knew this woman was going through a lot from what Devon and Ellie had told him, he also knew that she affected him. Seeing her hurt, and upset, it bothered him. And now, her knowing more about him…he knew he was going to be embarrassed.

"Yeah," Chuck said, nodding. "But I think there is a more important question that has to be asked."

"What am I doing here?" Chuck nodded. "Well, Devon heard me griping about my frustration," she began.

"Wait, pretty sure I know what happened next, you said something about taking out said frustration and he got you in contact with my business partners, Zondra and Carina," Chuck speculated, but felt pretty good about the speculation knowing the three in question as long as he did. Sarah nodded.

"That's pretty good," she told him. She grimaced as he pulled the rag away from his head. "Do you think we should get you to a doctor?"

"Yeah," Chuck nodded, seeing the blood. "Would you mind driving?

"You trust me to drive after all of that?" she asked, grinning.

Knowing what she was going through, he thought maybe he shouldn't joke with her, but what if…what if he could make her laugh? Make her smile?

"I kinda think I have a concussion, so at this point you're probably the safer option of the two of us…I think?"

She stuck out her tongue at him, came over, helped him to his feet, and guided him up the stairs.

}o{

"I don't think you have a concussion," Devon began. "But that's not my specialty."

"If only I knew someone who's it was, a family member even," Chuck replied, making the doctor chuckle. "Hey, good call on her dealing with her frustration." On the ride over, Sarah had told Chuck the rest of the story. Chuck had texted Carina and Zondra so they knew where Chuck and Sarah were. Sarah had promised she would be back, she wanted to go check on her dad.

"She'll be here in a bit to check on you," Devon told him. "She wanted to stitch your head but I knew she would somehow blame you, and perhaps be a little rougher than necessary." Chuck started to ask how he knew that. "Don't forget, I'm the youngest of three, and know how sometimes older siblings like to give out that tough love."

"I've never understood how putting more holes in my head stopped the bleeding, but it's not my specialty, so…." Devon chuckled at that.

"How are you and Sarah getting along?" He held up his hands at Chuck's glare. "Whoa. Whoa, Chuckster. I just meant she could use a friend and you seemed to be kind of avoiding her, and that's unlike you." Chuck's glare softened, and Devon watched Chuck sigh. "You don't like her?"

"What? No," Chuck replied quickly. "It's not that at all, it's…when she's in pain…I feel it. That day at the Buy More…it just radiated off of her, and I wanted to fix it…to help her…but…it wasn't my place."

Devon was silent for a moment. He finished up with the stitches, walked over, got an ice pack out of the freezer, and walked over to Chuck. "This is gonna be a bit uncomfortable, but it will help with the swelling." Chuck nodded, and Devon pressed it gently but firmly to the injury. Chuck hissed, but reached up to hold it in place.

They both sat there, silent. "Just ask, Devon, I know you have a lot to do."

"Why are you hiding?" Chuck looked over at him. "I don't mean to be…negative. I think what you do with those houses, is amazing. And the work you do with companies to help pay for some of them, to turn those houses over to those that need them…Chuckster, you are doing amazing stuff, but you are hiding."

"You get dumped by the woman you love, you screw up and destroy your own company, going bankrupt, costing people jobs…you decide to play it safe," Chuck said with a shrug. "But that has nothing to do with Sarah."

"Yeah it does," Devon told him. "I'm a heart doctor, my man, and that means I also understand all about the heart."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works," Chuck disagreed.

"Agree to disagree," Devon said with a shrug. "That woman needs a friend, that's it, but you are scared of letting anyone get to close. Hell, I'm shocked your as good of friends with Carina and Zondra as you are."

"It's not like we hang or anything," Chuck said with a shrug.

"And again, I'm still shocked your as close as you three are," Devon reiterated. "Chuckster, you're a great guy. I'm not talking about you dating, or anything like that, but you are hiding from everything."

"I let a lot of people down, Devon. A lot of people believed in me and lost their jobs," he reminded Devon.

"You didn't do it on purpose," Devon replied. There was a knock on the door. "That's your sister, so I'll drop it, but think about what I said." He walked over and opened the door. There stood Sarah, crying. "Sarah?"

"He's dead, Devon, he's dead," she said softly.

Chuck felt the pain radiating through her. He felt her heartache, and he recognized it. He had never felt it as intensely as she was going through it, but he knew it, and in that moment, he stood up from the table he had been sitting on, walked over, opened his arms, and wrapped them around her, as she buried her head against his chest and cried. Chuck just held her, wishing he could take that pain away, but all he could do was hold on.

A/N: Welp…yeah, yeah, next time:

"I don't think you have a concussion," Ellie told Chuck sometime later. Sarah had stopped crying, and had gathered herself. She went back up to help her mom, but not before getting Ellie, Devon, and Chuck's phone number. "However, you might have a brain injury."

"Is it serious?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know," Ellie said, her hands on her hips. "Devon told me you didn't tell Sarah about the Laserdisc."

Ah, siblings. See you tomorrow.