I don't own Chuck

"This isn't fair," Sarah said before she could help herself. She sat there and began to laugh. He had broken her. Completely broken her. That was something he would say and then she would agree with him and tell him that he was right, it wasn't fair, but they had a job to do. She had a job to do, and she knew it. She was going to protect Chuck Bartowski. It wasn't a job anyone had given her. Well, that wasn't true. She had given it to her. Sarah Walker, the woman. She had given the job of protector to Agent Walker. She thought she had buried the woman with her training at the Farm. She was wrong. The woman had been mostly gone, but lately, she showed herself more and more.

The woman who wanted more than a physical relationship with the pretty spy she was with that turned out to be a traitor…and then wasn't. The woman, who loved her father, even thought the agent in her knew what he did was wrong. The woman who told the agent that she had done some of those wrong things as well, and her time as an agent hadn't cleared her slate.

Those in the CIA accused Agent Walker many times of being cold, calculating, and of a single focus. They were right. She was. But she was also complicated, complex, and at the same time very simple. The simple part was, when she loved you, she'd fight like hell for you. Now, that fight, it might be complex or complicated. She was so tired. She was so tired of living two very different lives, because try as she might, she couldn't live one or the other. But now that she didn't work as an agent, she could…except…just when she thought she was out…they pulled her back in.

"Good God, he's got me quoting movies," Sarah muttered.

"I don't know what he did," Ellie began.

"He didn't do anything, Ellie, we were never together," Sarah told her. Sarah looked over at Beckman who's face was a mask. "So you told her."

"Dr. Bartowsi can be…persuasive," Beckman admitted.

Sarah barked a laugh and turned to Ellie. "Sorry, Chuck once told me that the Spanish Inquisition had nothing on you." Ellie smiled. "I want to hear from you, what's wrong."

"He's not himself, Sarah," Ellie began. "He's…lost. He's lost his friend, the person that believed in him."

"I'm out of that life, Ellie, for me, I'm out of it," Sarah said with a shrug. "You don't understand what it's done to me."

"I do," Ellie said. "General Beckman showed me your entire file." Sarah turned to Beckman who cleared her throat and looked slightly embarrassed. "I may have threatened them with legal action," Ellie said trying to look embarrassed, but failing miserably.

"Good," Sarah said. "They did him wrong."

"I know," Ellie told her. "After I saw your file, I realized exactly how supportive you were. I saw exactly how much it must have killed you. To be around someone like that, when I have to believe most men you were around thought they were either King Shit, and were really a nasty bad guy, or pompous men who thought they were James Bond." Sarah couldn't help but snort a laugh. Casey looked away. "Or, were like John here, and have constipated emotions and feelings. It must have thrown you for the biggest loop ever."

"It did," Sarah admitted softly.

"He's my brother, and I love him," Ellie said, tears in her eyes. Sarah looked away, and wiped at her eye. "He's going to die, Sarah."

Sarah turned back to Ellie. "They know he has this thing in his head. They know he can't defend himself, and that fool….that fool…" Ellie took a deep breath. "He's out there looking for you, with no care about his own safety. He thinks maybe they took you to get to him. Something about Spider-guy, Paul Parker, and Mary Jo?"

"Wait, I'm Mary Jane in this scenario?" Sarah asked. The worry left Ellie's face and she smiled. "What?"

"Not only you know the name, but you know why you being called Mary Jane is insulting, and at the same time it's not because in her own right, Mary Jane is a complete bad ass," Ellie said. "What did that idiot do?"

"I don't know-" Sarah began.

"What did my fool brother do?" Ellie asked, her voice softer but the intensity had everyone else in the room looking nervous. Sarah held Ellie's gaze for all of thirty seconds.

"He picked the job over me," Sarah told her softly. "And I know, I did the same in the past, but it's different."

"It is," Ellie agreed. "Okay, thank you for your honesty. I'll find another way to protect him." Sarah pulled back her chin, stunned. "Sarah, I can't ask you to do what needs to be done." There was a look on Ellie's face of understanding. "Sarah, you're my friend, and I can't ask you to do that."

"Do you really think he will die if I don't do this?" Sarah asked. Ellie looked away. "Ellie," Sarah said simply, but the tone said everything that need to be said. Ellie turned back to Sarah, crossed her arms uncomfortably in front of her and nodded.

}o{

Sarah picked up her phone and dialed a number. "I have him," she told the female voice that answered the phone. "He's been awake for an hour and hasn't escaped. He hasn't flashed, and in his attempt to escape, he fell over in his chair." She listened for a second and couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, he kind of did look like a turtle on his back." She listened for a second. "You're welcome," Sarah said, and clicked off the phone. She laid it on the table, reached for her gun to clean it again, and pushed it away, shaking her head. She rubbed her neck with her hand, trying to rub out the tension. One month since Prague, and she found herself with the man she had told her mother she never wanted to see again. With the man her mother had told her to run from. Her mother was right. She would do whatever it took to help him. She just wished her mind and body would quit reminding her of how much she missed him.