A/N: Warning: This chapter contains bad language and acts of violence. If these bother you, I understand and cordially invite you to head back to the lobby.

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Disclaimer: I still don't own Chuck

Chapter 5

Chuck left the gym and headed to work. He could not remember being in a better mood. The bus ride to Ward's Electronics was a blur as Chuck was lost in his thoughts. So much had happened that day. He was now in the choir, which didn't freak him out nearly as much as he thought it would. Sarah had aced her Pre-Calc test and she seemed positively ecstatic. It was a double-edged sword however. She might realize that she didn't need his tutoring anymore now that she was doing so well. While it was very disheartening, it was the nature of things. Even if their "professional" relationship may be coming to a close, Sarah now considered him to be a friend. It was the most inconceivable notion that Sarah Walker would, ever in a million years, consider Chuck her friend and yet it seemed to be true.

Chuck spent the evening buried in work at Ward's. With his headphones on, music blaring, he practically danced in his seat as he quietly sang along while he worked. Occasionally one of the Satos would walk through the back room and stop and stare for a few moments in curiosity. They would then shake their heads with a knowing smile and go about their business. This went on for hours until Mr. Sato pulled one of the earphones away from the young man's ear and hollered, "Chuck!", with an amused smile he stepped back.

"Oh. Sorry Mr. Sato. I was a little… uh... lost in my work there," Chuck said with a sheepish smile.

Mr. Sato chuckled in response, "So I noticed. It's closing time and we're locking up and heading upstairs. Those repairs can wait until tomorrow. Go home and have a good night."

Chuck smiled and nodded, "Sure thing. Night, Mr. Sato. See you tomorrow." He got his work to a stopping point, turned off his work lights and headed out. It was a cool night, but clear and pleasant. It was about a forty minute walk to his apartment from Ward's or a ten minute bus ride, even with all the stops. He wasn't really in a hurry to get home and do...well... nothing all by himself, so he opted to walk since the weather was fair and he was in high spirits. Perhaps it would burn off some of this energy.

It was just nearing ten o'clock and his walk had been relatively peaceful save the occasional car passing by. He was walking down a side street that ran behind a small shopping plaza where the rear entrances and small loading docks were visible. There were few street lights but Chuck was familiar with the area and was not terribly concerned, especially being in such a good mood. As he proceeded he could hear talking and laughter along with the occasional sound of a glass bottle skittering across the asphalt. Ahead he could make out some cars in the asphalt drive to his left where a number of people were milling around and from the sounds of it were drinking. Chuck kept walking with his head faced forward trying to prevent eye contact or drawing attention to himself. As he passed under one if the few street lights in the area, he was plainly visible but the parties to his left were still concealed in shadow, the stark contrast making it difficult to see anything other than shapes. He was almost to the far edge of the pool of light when a voice cut through the night air.

"Weehheeell. If it's not FUCK Barf-towski, walkin' all awone by his wittle self. Does your mommy know you're out dis wate?" the voice continued on with his mocking childish tone. Chuck knew that voice well from many unpleasant encounters at school. It was Bobby Thompson and the others were likely his not-so-merry band of sheep that followed him around. He was popular, a football player, and very large. He was the same height as Chuck but easily twice the size. He and his friends were the current title holders in the 'Torment Chuck' intramural league.

Chuck kept walking, doing his best to ignore Bobby and his friends. This only served to piss Bobby off as his tone changed to that of anger. "Barftowski! I'm talkin' to you! You better fucking answer me when I'm talking to you," Bobby spat as he closed the distance to Chuck, his friends close behind. When Bobby reached him, he grabbed Chuck by the left arm, spun him around and slammed his back against a car parked on the street. "Where the fuck do you think you're going? Don't walk the fuck away from me when I'm fuckin' talking to you," Bobby was quite literally spitting as he yelled at Chuck, the smell of alcohol on his breath was overpowering.

Putting his hands up as if in surrender, "Look Bobby, I'm not looking for any trouble. I'm just trying to get home," Chuck calmly pleaded but tried not to let the fear show in his voice.

Bobby continued with a patronizing tone, "OH! You hear that guys? He's just trying to get home." Laughter and mostly incoherent chatter and gibes came from the peanut gallery behind Bobby. "It seems to me that Mr Barftowski here has forgotten his place. Isn't that right boys? I've seen you coming in my gym, lookin' at Sarah Walker and the other cheerleaders, talking with Sarah after class and in the library. You think she gives a flying fuck about you nerd? She is so far out of your league. You got no goddamn business talking with her, you pathetic piece of shit."

"No,.. Bobby. It's not ... it's not like that. I'm just tutoring her in math. That's it, I swear," Chuck pleaded knowing that this was likely to not end well for him.

"You weak, pathetic sack o' shit. I don't care what you think you're doing. You keep the hell away from her and anyone else in my school, you got it?" Bobby commanded as he stabbed his finger in Chuck's chest. There were a few girls that were hanging back behind them at their cars looking on. Chuck could hear the occasional half-hearted plea of some of the girls, "Aww, come on guys. Leave him alone." Chuck knew that Bobby had no real intentions of leaving him alone. Bobby held up his hand as if an idea struck him, "Maybe we should give ole Fuck here a ride home huh? Whadda you guys think?" looking around at his band of miscreants for their input.

"Bobby. Why do you have to be such a dick?" one of the girls chided. Chuck almost thought it admirable that one of these girls was sort of standing up for him. Then the girl continued, "One of these days you're gonna mess with someone and you're gonna end up gettin' your ass beat. Then I'll laugh my ass off," she smirked and chuckled at the now fuming Bobby. Chuck's 'savior' had just thrown gasoline on the fire.

"Yeah. Fuck you, bitch." Bobby hurled the insult over his shoulder and whipped his head back to Chuck. Bobby pushed Chuck hard in the chest with both hands, slamming him into the car behind him, causing the car to rock back and forth. "You gonna kick my ass, Barftowski? Is that it?" Bobby spat pushing Chuck into the car again. The entire time, the other guys surrounding him were egging Bobby on, just escalating the situation, adding more fuel to the fire. Chuck was trying his best to stay calm and talk Bobby down from his alcohol induced tirade. No matter what Chuck tried it fell on deaf ears. Bobby turned to one of his friends with an evil smile and with no warning, grabbed Chuck by the shoulders and pulled him closer as Bobby's knee flew into Chuck's stomach twice in quick succession. There was an audible rush of air from Chuck's lungs and he dropped to a knee holding his stomach trying to catch his breath. All of the onlookers laughed and cheered, urging him to continue. Chuck was fighting to regain his breath as he attempted to stand again. As he almost reached his full height, a hard right hook landed on his left eye and cheek forcing him to spin into the car and drop to the ground, landing on all fours.

"I didn't say you could get up. Keep your ass down, bitch," Bobby spat at Chuck. His mind in a daze, pain coursed through his face and head as he slowly shook his head struggled to regain focus. Chuck knew there was no escape from this, nothing to do or say to make this stop. The only thing he could do was the same thing he did most everyday. Lock himself away. Separate himself from the cold, cruel reality and retreat into himself and just let it all wash over him. Much like a turtle escapes into its shell, Chuck had become accustomed to retreating into his own mind and shutting out the pain and hurt, the emotional torment that the world seemed to be all too happy to serve him. What happened next was a blur; like trying to make sense of the world from inside a Tilt-a Whirl. He remembered shouting and laughing and more pain in his face and mouth as someone's shoe connected with Chuck's face. Everything after that point was less clear. Noise and pain, laughter and finally darkness.

Chuck could hear some faint talking, almost distant. He tried to open his eyes to see who was speaking but it was difficult, like trying to wake from a deep sleep. Finally he could see light but only from his right eye. The voice became closer and more clear. It was a female voice, one he almost recognized, but not well.

"Hey, Chuck! Come on. Wake up. Come on, you have to get up. I can't carry you. You've...you've got to help me out here. Come on..." the voice pleaded, a sense of panic evident.

The panicked sound in the girl's voice stirred Chuck to action. His chivalric instinct was to want to help the 'damsel in distress', so he mustered as much energy as he could to push himself up off the ground. In that moment it was as if a switch was flicked and tremendous pain came flooding over him. He winced in pain, "Ahhh! Son of b-" he exclaimed as the sudden gasp of air caused his body to tense as he rode out the wave of pain. He slowing and deliberately took in small breaths and continued to try to right himself. He made it to his hands and knees and he felt an arm loop around his armpit and a hand grasp his arm at just above his elbow. With the extra assistance at pulling him from his prone position, he was able to get to his knees. With a little more help and no small amount of pain he was able to get to just one knee.

"That's it. You're almost there. You can do it. I got you. Come on. Almost got it," the voice continued was a little more hope in her voice. Chuck made it up to stand on both feet but found it very difficult to stand up completely straight as sharp pangs of pain shot through his rib cage. He sucked in air through gritted teeth after trying to turn too quickly. As he could currently not see through his left eye, the person assisting him was obscured from view. He slowly turned his body by shuffling his feet, still slightly hunched. He was able to turn his neck enough to see the person that had aided him thus far. Her auburn hair, steely gray/blue eyes and fair skin looked familiar. She had clearly been crying as there were tracks of tears streamed down her cheeks and her eyes were a little pink. As his focus became more clear and she moved into the glow of the street light, he recognized her from school. In fact, she was the one who had been heckling Bobby before...Oh God. The events began flooding back as he remembered what had happened and he frantically looked around to see if there was still danger.

"Hey. Hey! It's OK. They left. They left. OK? They heard some sirens nearby and bolted. Come on. Let's uh...let's see if we can get you home. Can...can you walk?" The girl tried to assess Chuck's condition.

"I….I think so," Chuck groaned out as he took a few steps. She guided him by the arm toward a car parked nearby. She helped him into the passenger side, as he slowly and painfully sunk into the seat. When she got in the driver side, she asked for his address and directions to his place. As she drove, she would frequently look over at him as if to make sure he was still there. After a long silence she finally spoke.

"Look. I...I don't know if you know me or not. I'm Carina. Carina Miller. I'm….I'm so sorry for that back there. Truly I am. I...I couldn't stop them...there were-" she choked on her words as she fought back more tears. The only thing she could do was whisper "So sorry" before biting her lower lip and shaking her head. Chuck had turned his head to see her with his right eye when she began to talk. He recalled who she was and knew her from school. She was a cheerleader as well, one of the "beautiful people". She had never been one to be outwardly mean toward him, but she had never acknowledged his existence either; certainly the lesser of two evils. He could tell that she was genuinely upset and the only thing Chuck could think to do was try to comfort her.

Placing a gentle hand on her forearm, "Hey….It's OK….Thank you," he managed to get out between shallow breaths. She looked at him questioningly and then sniffed, nodding her head slightly. They drove on in silence until she got to Chuck's apartment building. She helped him out and into the building finally ending their journey at Chuck's apartment. Chuck wasn't sure if Ellie was home, so as he tried to fumble with the keys, Carina took them and opened the door. The place was dark so she reached along the wall finding the light switch and helped Chuck toward the dining area.

"You'll want to sit in one of these chairs. Trying to get off that couch will likely hurt like hell with the way you are favoring your side. I hope they aren't broken," she winced as she helped him to sit at one of the chairs. "Don't move," she commanded and immediately went to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge and drawers. When she came back she had dish towels, bags of frozen vegetables and some wet paper towels. "Ok. This is a little awkward, I know, but you're gonna have to get that shirt off of you so I can see your ribs, OK?" she asked a little sheepishly. When Chuck nodding his acquiescence, she assisted him with one sleeve at a time before pulling it over his head. While he winced in pain and let out a few groans, he managed to keep from outright screaming in pain. She gently felt his sides as he grimaced slightly.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but….do you have any idea what you are doing?" Chuck asked with some apprehension.

"Fair question. I've helped out with the sports medicine staff at some of the football games over the years. I've seen plenty of cracked ribs and broken bones. They don't feel broken but they will hurt for a while. The key is to not wrap them in Ace bandages as everyone tells you. That will just restrict your breathing and you could get pneumonia. Believe me, you don't want to have to cough with cracked ribs," she smirked as she continued. She took his shirt and placed a bag of frozen peas inside and twisted the shirt closed. She then wrapped the arms of the shirt around is chest and tied it off so that the vegetables rested against his bruising ribs. She wrapped a bag of frozen corn in a dish towel and put it in his hand. "Hold this over your left eye. It will help bring the swelling down," she said as she went on with her ministrations. Using the wet towels, she wiped around the corners of his mouth, his bottom lip and down the sides of his chin. She then tenderly pressed it to a spot on his forehead, above his left eyebrow. As she was finishing, the sounds of keys in the front door caught their attention when Ellie came through the front door.

"Sorry Chuck. I stopped after class for a drink with some friends. Did you get my -" Ellie's question was cut short when she saw Chuck and the strange girl and the apparent condition of her little brother. Dropping all her belonging where she stood she exclaimed "Chuck! What the hell happened?" as she quickly made her way across the apartment.

"El. It's alright. I'm alright. Calm down." Chuck tried as best he could to calm Hurricane Ellie.

"The hell you are! Look at you. What the hell happened to you? Did you call the police?" Ellie was in full out Mom mode. Chuck eventually got her to calm down enough so that he could offer an explanation.

"Look El. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was walking home and some guys jumped me. I didn't recognize them, plus it was dark. Carina here goes to school with me and luckily saw me lying on the ground after they left and helped me here. She's been helping clean me up," Chuck looked to Carina with his good eye and slightly nodded his head toward Ellie, as if begging her to play along.

"Uh...Yeah. Right. I was just driving by and saw someone laying on the ground. I stopped to check on them and saw it was Chuck so I got him in my car and helped him here," Carina replied, trying to hide the uneasiness in her voice.

"Chuck. This is not the first time this has happened. We can't just ignore it and hope it will go away. What if it happens again? Huh? What if next time it's worse? Much worse?" Ellie barked in response.

"Ellie, this is L.A. Shit like this happens sometimes. There's nothing the cops can do about it now. They have murderers and rapists and crazy people to deal with. It's partly my fault anyway. I should have taken the bus, but it was a nice night, so I made the poor choice of walking in the dark. I should have known better. I promise I will be more careful. I'll take some of the money I saved and get a car if that will make you feel better?" Chuck implored to his sister. While she didn't like it, she realized that he was as stubborn as she was, so they were at an impasse. She checked over Carina's handy work and examined Chuck's ribs and eye.

"Well, it doesn't look like anything is broken. Except maybe your eye. It's hard to tell right now but you may have a fractured orbital rim, but there is not much you can do about that. We'll keep an eye on it, no pun intended. Take about 4 Ibuprofen and ice ...or frozen peas them for about 15-20 minutes at a time as needed. You did good Carina. Thanks for helping get Chuck home. I really owe you one," Ellie smiled at the younger girl with admiration.

"No. No. It was nothing really. Anyone would have done the same. Look. Chuck you seem to be in really good hands, so I'm gonna get going. My parents are expecting me soon. I'll see you at school next week?" Carina appeared to have some color in her cheeks and couldn't really make eye contact with Chuck, appearing almost ashamed.

"Yeah. Uh...sure and, Carina? Thank you. I mean it. Really. Thank you." Chuck looked on at Carina with a sober expression to which she just nodded and grabbed her purse, waving her goodbyes and left.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Fitful bouts of sleep are all that came to Chuck that night. Between the pain and discomfort and the vivid replaying of the evening's events in his mind, restful sleep eluded him. As the digits on his clock ticked forward on their endless pursuit of the future, Chuck lay contemplating all that had happened. He could not help but think that perhaps Bobby was right, in part. He didn't belong in that world, walking among the "beautiful people". That seemed to be a right that you were born into or perhaps voted into by those already in power. Chuck was a trespasser, a gate crasher into the land of the privileged and aesthetically gifted. He was none of those things and he had, if just for a brief moment, forgotten his "place". Silly rabbit…

Chuck eventually pulled himself from bed and made his way to the kitchen. He needed some food before taking any more pain medication. He quickly became aware of what movements he could and could not do courtesy of the pain in his ribs. As Carina and later Ellie had told him before bed, he made sure to take deep breaths periodically so as not to allow fluid to settle in his lungs, causing pneumonia. He was eventually able to make a bowl of cereal and as his new dose of Ibuprofen kicked in, he was feeling a little less crappy. As Chuck moved to the bathroom to grab a shower, he could see in the large mirror the after effects of last nights escapades. The swelling in his left eye had gone down considerably and he could see out of it again. Still there was a large blue, red and purple bruise surrounding his eye and spreading down to his cheek bone. There were a few small cuts and scrapes on his face and a noticeable cut on the inside of his bottom lip, making his lip a little swollen still. There was some discernible bruising along the ribs on the left side of his chest and abdomen. All in all, not great but at least most of the swelling had eased around his injuries, so he looked less like a balloon animal.

He had contemplated calling off work but then he realized he would be sitting around the house alone all day with only his thoughts to keep him company. He really needed to have something to occupy his mind right now. He finally got dressed and packed a lunch and snack and left for work. The bus ride was not very forgiving on Chuck's aching frame but he managed to get to work by 9:30am. He quietly slipped past the Sato's without being spotted and got straight to work where he had left off the night before. He settled in, listening to music, but without the upbeat demeanor of the day before. He worked throughout the morning and into lunchtime before taking a break to eat something and take some more Ibuprofen as a preventative measure. As Chuck was heading back to work, Mrs. Sato stopped him to inquire about his day and stopped him shock, gasping and covering her mouth with her hand.

She let out what Chuck could only guess was some sort of explicative in Japanese. "Hiroto! Come here, now!" she yelled for her husband. As the man entered the back room, his wife pointed at Chuck and he winced and hissed as he inhaled through his teeth. "Let me guess? You fell down the stairs again," Hiroto inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Chuck looked down at his feet, unable to meet their gaze, "Yeah….something like that." He knew that he had used this tired excuse before and he was fooling nobody. Chuck felt ashamed. Ashamed that he had let this sort of thing happen to him yet again. Ashamed that he lied about it to cover it up. Ashamed that he was letting himself believe that this was just the way things were and were meant to be, as if pre-ordained. He knew that if things continued down this path that ...well he didn't want to think about that. Trying in vain to hold back the tears from escaping, "I don't know what else to do..." he trailed off, barely more than a whisper, closing his eyes. It was at that moment that he felt a petite set of arms around his waist, gently envelope him in a hug. As the older woman softly held him and rubbed his back, he could no longer hold back the emotions that he had bottled up for so long. Chuck put his arms around Mrs. Sato and began to cry, something he had not allowed himself since he was a young boy.

As he began to recover and collect himself, he released the woman only to feel a firm hand placed at the back of his neck. Chuck raised his gaze to Mr. Sato who himself seemed shaken. "Son … we will find that path together. OK?" he asked with a reassuring nod. Chuck could only respond with a nod of acceptance as a small smile crept across his face. The older man released his hold on Chuck as he continued, "Now...lunch is over. Get back to work," he chided with a smirk and a wink. This elicited the desired response as Chuck gave a small chuckle, thankful for the levity to break the somber mood.

As 4:00 pm approached, Chuck was deep in thought over the events of the previous night. Specifically in reference to one Sarah Walker. She had confided that she thought of him as a friend. This thrilled him to no end and he wanted nothing more than to spend time with her, getting to know her. In sharp contrast were the events of last night. Going over those events it became quite clear that the "Powers That Be" decided that the beating he received was the price he would have to pay for that friendship. The question now, was he willing to keep paying it? Was it all worth it? Would he pay that toll again when the "beautiful people" came to collect? After barely a moments thought the answer was an unequivocal "Yes".

A/N: So yeah. All that just happened. Some pretty heavy stuff. Pretty crappy start to the weekend so far. Let's see how the rest goes. Tune in next time. Please take the time to review.