I don't own Chuck

"Mom, I'm not the person I was," Sarah began.

"Who is, Sarah, who is?" Emma asked. "But your heart, you soul, your goodness, it's still in there."

"He didn't want me," Sarah insisted.

"From what you told me, he didn't say that, he just put doing something for himself over you," Emma said.

"And that's what dad did to you," Sarah pointed out.

"But didn't you do the same thing to him?" Emma asked, frustrated. Sarah threw her hands up. "Fine, but I'm serious, if you are dead set on not being with him, then you need to leave, cut off all connections to him. That place you have, is it still hidden? Does anyone know about it?"

"No one knows," Sarah told her.

"Go there, get away."

"Okay," Sarah said, nodding. "Does this mean I'll never see you again?"

"I don't think so," Emma said shaking her head. "I believe you'll listen to your heart at some point."

"I don't want done to me what dad did to you," Sarah insisted.

"Chuck isn't like your father," Emma reminded her. Sarah looked away. "Come'ere." Emma pulled her into a hug. "Listen to your heart baby girl."

}o{

She went back to DC and shut down her apartment. There wasn't much there, and what was there she donated to charity. She drove to Langley and began the process of retiring. She couldn't help but feel the irony of how she was no longer an agent, and now Chuck was going to be. She thought there would be push back, she thought at some point in the process that General Beckman would show up to stop her. She was certain someone would do something, but if anything, the entire process went more quickly than she ever imagined.

She walked out of Langley, and stopped in her tracks as she saw the man in from of her. "Casey," she said.

"General Beckman wonders if you'd talk to her for a moment. She'd consider it a personal favor," Casey told her. Sarah pulled her chin back, surprised and stunned. "Walker…Sarah, I would consider it a personal favor."

"Okay," she agreed. She got into the vehicle with Casey and they took off. Sometime later, they found themselves on a private air strip.

"We're gonna have to take a flight to get to her," Casey told Sarah.

"Casey, I know I'm a civilian but-"

"There's no burn, hit, or termination order on you, Walker," Casey told her, his hand on the door handle. "This…blast," he grumbled. "Walker, please."

Sarah sat there for a moment trying to think of any reason other than the one that popped into her head as to why Casey was asking…nicely. "How bad?"

"He's completely shit the bed," Casey groused.

"Of course he has," she sighed. She opened the door and got out of the car. Casey got out, confusion on his face. "Lead the way," she told him.

"Walker…thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, Casey, I haven't done anything." Casey nodded, but the look on his face said he knew she would help. Hell, she knew she would help. It was Chuck. This is what her mother meant. No matter how much he hurt her, she would be there for him. Maybe not as the lover that she wanted to be. Maybe not as his friend, but she would always be there for him. That's who Sarah Walker was when she loved someone. Her training had tried to take that away from her, and that's when it hit her what her mother meant when she had asked Sarah, "Has it?" She still was, who she was. She was Sarah Walker, and when she loved someone, she would do anything for them…no matter how much it hurt.

}o{

Sarah watched the footage of Chuck and shook her head. "This is…something," Sarah said. "But I'm not sure what you want me to do."

Beckman said nothing and showed Sarah a picture of her and Chuck on the train station platform in Prague. The time stamp date was highlighted. Beckman pressed a button that showed a video of Chuck flashing and defending himself. The date was the morning of the incident at the train station. She then showed a video from two days later. There was no delicate way to put it, Chuck was getting his ass handed to him.

"Again, I don't know what I can do," Sarah said softly.

"Miss Walker," Beckman began. "Our organizations have been compromised. They know about Chuck. They know the Intersect doesn't work. He is in danger. I would like to contract you out as a freelance NSA operative. Your mission, to protect and train Agent Bartowski."

"I don't think-" Sarah began.

"Before you answer what I think you're going to answer, there's someone that needs to be here, to know that I did all I could." Sarah stared at Beckman. She wouldn't. Beckman nodded at Casey. Casey looked uncomfortable as he opened the door. As the woman from the other room walked through, Sarah wanted to call Beckman names.

"I know this is unfair," Ellie began. "But it's my brother, Sarah. So I do this for him." Ellie paused and Sarah had no idea what was going on. "Help me Sarah Walker, you're my only hope."

Shit.

}o{

Sarah sighed, tired of the past and the memories. She looked at the clock and saw it had been an hour since he had awaken. She'd give him another hour and then…then they'd talk. Actually she'd talk and he'd listen. She should leave him alone until then. She glanced over at her water bottle and dropped her head. She know knew exactly what her mom meant. She would do anything for him. She sighed, and grabbed the water bottle.

She walked into the room with a water bottle with a straw. "Do you want a sip of water?" She heard him say something against the gag. She didn't know what it was, but she had a good idea. "I'm sorry, I can't let you go to the bathroom. If you need to use the bathroom, then free yourself."

He was silent for a moment, and then she heard him yell one word against the gag in his mouth. "Why?" she asked. "To protect you, Chuck." He shook his head, and she turned, and left the room. She heard him yell her name through the gag, and she kept walking. It was killing her, but she had to. She was going to do whatever it took to protect him, no matter how much it hurt her. She wasn't going to let him die, because that…that would be worse than her own death.