I don't own Chuck
He kept hearing something, a reoccurring beeping noise. There was also pain…a lot of pain. He tried to open his eyes but the lids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. He felt cold, very cold, except for his right hand. It was enveloped in warmth, warmth that he had only felt in the last few weeks. Warmth he didn't know existed after his red test, until he had met Agent Sarah Walker.
There was something else he heard; voices. He couldn't make them out, they sounded garbled, like he was underwater. What the hell was that annoying beep? It sounded like a heart monitor. There was something in his nostrils. He tried to move his nose around but he could still feel it.
He also realized he was feeling pain. A dull ache from all over, but a sharper pain from his middle.
"Have you ever seen anyone beat her in a fight?" he heard a hushed female voice ask.
"Not one on one, and sure as hell not two on one in her favor," another female voice replied.
"She's sitting right here," he heard a third female voice reply. It was too his right, and that voice he knew. In the few weeks they had been working together, he had learned that voice. It had become his lifeline. He would know it anywhere. That voice belonged to Sarah Walker. "I've never seen anything like it," he heard her say in a mixture of disgust and awe.
He wanted to hear more, but he felt like whatever had him underwater was pulling him back. He felt a squeeze of his right hand. It was Sarah. He recognized the warmth, he recognized the touch. She was there…where ever the hell there was.
}o{
He was sitting on the balcony of some expensive home, looking over water, their work done. He knew he should remember where this mission took place, but for the life of him he couldn't, but he knew something important had happened here. Bryce had a satisfied smirk on his face. He was looking over the water, and spoke, never turning towards Chuck. "You know how you know who the real bad guys are Chuck? The ones that beat kids. The one that hurt kids, for being kids. The ones that make their kids grow up before they are ready. Parents, adults, they're supposed to protect kids."
Bryce turned to Chuck. "I know the CIA has a mission for us, but I think we need our own, to do whatever it takes to stop people that hurt kids." Chuck nodded. "You with me?" He held out his hand, and Chuck clasped it. "Brothers…in blood. We do whatever it takes to stop these monsters."
}o{
He was hearing that damn noise again, but he was also hearing an argument. This time he recognized both female voices; Sarah and Ellie.
"You need to be in bed," he heard Ellie say.
"Get him a bigger bed then," Sarah argued. "I'm not leaving him."
"Sarah," he heard the exasperation out of Ellie and decided he would say something. In his mind he opened his mouth, asked them both what was wrong, and how could he help, but that wasn't what came out.
"Whawng?" was the sound that he managed to get out.
"Chuck!" he heard both of them reply. And then there was warmth on both his hands. He could feel Ellie on his left, and Sarah on his right.
"Hey, I'm here," Sarah said, her lips by his ear. He felt something wet on his cheek. Was it her tears?
"I'm quite mad at you," he heard Ellie say. The teasing tone came through, but it was full of emotion. What in the hell was going on? "You keep fighting, you hear me?"
"Kay," he managed to reply. "Ove u," he added, feeling himself being pulled back under.
"Love you, baby brother," he heard Ellie say.
"Love you," he heard another voice say as he disappeared into the depths. Was that Sarah? Did she just say she loved him? He wanted to fight his way back to them, to ask what he had just heard, but he was took weak. He didn't have the strength. As he slipped under he felt a warm pressure on his right side, and he knew Sarah was hugging him.
}o{
That damn sound was bringing him back up again, but this time there was something else with it, a voice. Her voice. "Molly really misses you," he heard Sarah say. "But we can't bring her in here, not with you still badly hurt as you are, plus…well, I always promised to never lie to you. You'd probably scare the hell out of her. All these tubes running out of you. So, you have Ellie and Molly that want you better."
There was a silence for a few moments and when she continued he heard her voice full of emotion, nearly breaking. "And then there's me, Chuck. God, you saved my damn life from that asshole not once, but twice. This time, literally, he was going to kill me, and instead…instead he shot you in the gut."
That would explain the pain, and the bed, and how he felt. He tried to remember the fight, but at that moment, it didn't feel important. He put all his energy into squeezing her hand.
"Chuck!?" he heard her say. He fought with everything he could to open his eyes. She was there, fuzzy, and unfocused in his sight, but she was there. Bruised, cut up, looked like she had lost a hell of a fight. "Chuck?"
"M'ere," he managed to get out. Her left hand was stroking his head, tears in her eyes. "U ook ike sht," he managed to say. She gave a wet laugh and laid her head on his shoulder. He hissed in pain and she quickly pulled back.
"I love you," she said softly. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do, but he knew he felt so much for her, and he shouldn't, for her sake. As he felt himself go under again, he squeezed her hand, and the darkness swallowed him again as went back under.