Author's Note: Thank you to my reviewers. It's awesome seeing how much people enjoy what I've written. This chapter completes this little saga and I only hope I did the characters justice and managed to entertain. Enjoy!

Sarah didn't care that she was pacing. She didn't care that Casey was looking annoyed and on the brink of making a snide remark. She didn't care about anything but Chuck. Not the mission, not her cover, and certainly not if Casey approved of her emotional attachment. She was desperately trying not to care. She was beginning to feel that her sanity depended on her not caring. Yet she knew that not caring about Chuck was impossible at this point. She had no idea how Chuck was doing, or even if he was actually still alive, and it was eating her up inside. He had been in surgery far too long as far as she was concerned.

"Sit down, Walker."

"One of us should be there with him."

"That would be kind of hard seeing how neither of us are doctors."

Sarah stopped abruptly and glared at Casey. How could he sit there so calmly, like it didn't matter at all to him whether or not Chuck lived or died? She figured he'd at least care about the continuation of the Intersect, but Casey's detached calm was maddening to her. How could he not care? "Doesn't it bother you even a little bit?"

Casey shrugged and ran a hand along the side of his head, fingers threading his cropped hair. For the first time, Sarah noticed how weary her partner's eyes looked. She began feeling bad almost immediately. Maybe she had misjudged him. "Regardless of how I feel, I can't make the doctors work any faster or prevent Bartowski from dying."

Sarah shut her eyes hard and clenched a fist. He just had to use that word. She was refusing to even let herself consider that word a possibility. "That doesn't make it any easier."

"It never is when your partner gets hurt."

Sarah snorted in disbelief, but her eyes danced mischievously. She smiled teasingly at Casey, walking over to sit beside him in the uncomfortable plastic waiting room chairs. "Did you just call Chuck your partner?"

"Absolutely not. I was talking about being in your situation."

Sarah grinned and felt some of the weight pressing down on her lighten. It was good to feel relaxed, even for only a minute. "I can't wait to tell Chuck. He'll be so happy."

Casey grunted and added on a scowl for good measure. It only made Sarah smile wider. "I'll admit the kid's not as annoying as he used to be. He just needs to learn to listen." Sarah couldn't really argue with that.

The two agents became silent; Sarah's thoughts automatically drifted back to Chuck. She had finally reached a breaking point when she saw Chuck unmoving as the paramedics worked on him. It was too much; there was only so much she could take. First Chuck left his hiding place, then he got shot, and now he was looking like he was dead? It was just one blow to her already shaky control after another. It only made sense that she had thought the worst and found herself sliding along the spectrum of complete panic and fear to a near total system wide shut down. She had crawled inside of herself, letting everything fade away, not caring about anything. If Chuck was gone, then what did it matter? After all, it was her fault he was gone, her fault that he'd never see his friends and family again. That'd she never see his smile or hear him laugh. It was her fault that her world, her way of life, had finally destroyed Chuck Bartowski for good. All that she had fought for, as hard as she had tried to protect him from the real and uncaring world she lived in, was in vain.

And then she had heard one of the paramedics say the words that snapped her out of her stupor: "weak pulse". Chuck was still alive and she realized how ridiculous she was being. Chuck wasn't gone yet and she was sliding back into the unprofessional woman that had gotten Chuck in this mess to begin with. After that, she became Sarah Walker, special agent with the CIA, again. Thinking of herself as anything other than that was no longer acceptable. Granted, as she found the wait to find out information on Chuck's condition become increasingly unbearable, she discovered that being the detached agent was easier said than done. She was slowly beginning to realize that she was far too invested in Chuck for her to ever sever her ties to him.

Casey snapped her back to the harsh reality of their situation. "We need to come up with some kind of plan."

"I was thinking of a mugging." God, the thought of having to explain to Ellie what had happened to her brother was almost as terrifying as losing Chuck.

"Mugging is too cliché." Casey stared at the floor. "Car jacking gone wrong, it's more L.A."

"Who the hell would try to steal the Nerdmobile?" Sarah gawked at Casey in disbelief.

"Hell if I know. You have a better idea?"

"We could always tell them the truth." Sarah knew the suggestion was ridiculous as soon as the words left her mouth. It would never happen. But the idea of lying to Ellie about something as important as the life of her brother was incredibly unpleasant to her. She liked Ellie. She liked everyone who was connected to Chuck in some way, even Morgan. She didn't want to lie to them, to use their trust of her against them. But she knew she had to, because that was her job. Sarah couldn't help feeling nauseous; how did her job come to represent everything she found distasteful in life? Goddamn Chuck Bartowski.

"I meant something reasonable."

"I don't know. I don't think it'll matter much once she finds out." They both knew who the hard sale would be.

"Still, when things calm down, she'll want real answers."

Sarah sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She was exhausted. "I'll think of something." She reluctantly pushed herself to her feet. She knew she should have done this sooner, and that if Ellie ever found out she had waited to call her, the older woman would probably never forgive her, but Sarah just didn't want to do this. "I guess I'll make the call now."

"Make sure you change afterward."

"Huh?" Sarah looked down at her partner, boggled and more than a little out of sorts.

"Your clothes, they're covered in blood."

Sarah blinked and slowly forced her eyes downward to see that her clothes were in fact marred with Chuck's blood. Just how tired was she? How had she not noticed this before? She didn't even remember doing anything that would have gotten the blood on her. This new revelation did not bode well for her continued sanity. Quietly, very sickly, she whispered, "I had no idea."

Casey nodded at her curtly, and actually managed to almost smile sympathetically at her. "The blood will probably make whatever story you come up with more convincing, but it's likely to freak her out. Besides, you look terrible." Casey stood up and awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed for the briefest of seconds, and then his gruff exterior was back full bore. "I had one of the other agents arrange a change of clothing for you."

Sarah didn't know what to say. This was totally unlike what she was used to. "Thank you."

Casey stiffened, his eyes hard and moving from one end of the long hospital corridor to the other, apparently scanning for potential threats. "After you call Bartowski's sister, you should probably try to get some rest. I don't want you screwing up your story because you were too tired to think straight."

"I'll try." She stared at her partner curiously for a few seconds before she walked away, pulling out her cell phone. This was probably going to be one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

There's that old cliché that being doped up on painkillers is like floating on a cloud. It wasn't quite like floating on a cloud, but it was pretty damn close. He felt disjointed, removed, and very tired. Every second was a struggle to stay awake, but he found the strain lessened with each passing second. He had never felt so lightheaded in his life (it was almost like they had decapitated him and placed his head next to his body). He had no idea what kind of drugs were coursing through his body, but whatever they were, they were awesome. Chuck smiled dopily at the thought. He had never really been one for pharmaceutical recreation, but he could understand the appeal. At least, he thought he did. It really was hard to concentrate on a single thought for very long.

He tried to lift his head, to survey his immediate area, but as soon as he did, everything went crazy. He quickly lowered his head back onto his rough pillow, eyes wide. "Wow."

Chuck didn't know where he was, what was wrong with him, or why he felt so poofy (cloud-like); he had a vague memory dancing along the periphery of his consciousness, but most everything was a blurry blank. He figured everything had to be okay, because everything felt so good (sounded logical to him). He wasn't sure he liked the cool feeling that suddenly coursed through his left arm, but he felt a little more content afterwards, so it was probably for the best.

"Chuck?"

Chuck thought he heard a voice, but it might have just been the air talking to him. "That's me."

"Chuck?" His name was repeated again; this time it sounded a little more urgent and excited.

"That's me." Why was the air repeating its question? He was getting annoyed. "I said I'm here, what do you want?"

"Oh my God." Now the air sounded relieved and happy. At least he thought it did, it was a little difficult to classify emotions at the moment. "You're awake!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Then he tried to move his body, but it only felt like trying to move a river and he laughed. "I feel weird." The speaking air coalesced into a vision of his sister, dark hair spreading out like tendrils in the sky, and worry carved into her eyes. "Hey, you look like Ellie."

The effervescent Ellie cried onto his ill-fitting hospital gown and Chuck frowned. "I'm so happy you're awake. I was really worried about you."

"I'm fine. I can't really feel anything, but I'm fine." Chuck chuckled and poked his stomach to emphasize his point. He shook his head, which provoked a wave of dizziness, which caused him to blink his eyes rapidly and groan. He recovered quickly and smiled in reassurance at Ellie.

Ellie appraised him before she smiled indulgently and nodded her head in agreement. "When I first heard what happened, I was so scared."

"I'm not going anywhere, I don't think." Chuck frowned again and tried to shift his body, but not much happened. "Although I can't really move, so that's kind of beside the point."

Arms wrapped around him and hugged him very carefully. Ellie sobbed and laughed at the same time. "I think you've had a little too much morphine."

"That's what this stuff is?" Chuck managed to lift his left hand enough to awkwardly rub Ellie's arm. "Don't tell Awesome but I think it's awesome."

Ellie smiled wide and laughed, squeezing his left hand with her own. "I promise to keep it just between us."

"Why do I feel funny, Ellie?"

Ellie pulled back slightly and looked at him steadily. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes." Chuck frowned and contorted his face into an over exaggerated expression of confusion. "Wait, maybe?"

Ellie smiled gently and nodded her head slowly. "You got shot, Chuck." She paused and sucked in a breath, her eyes closed. She spoke slowly, every word coming out unwillingly. "The bullet nicked your renal artery and you had some internal bleeding. They were concerned they might have to perform a nephrectomy, but fortunately, once they started fixing you up, they realized the damage was relatively minor." Ellie paused and moistened her lips. Chuck only stared up at her in confused awe (his sister was smart). "You also had minor fractures along your fourth and fifth rib, although how that happened I'm not exactly sure." Ellie opened her eyes and stared hard at Chuck. "You were very lucky."

Chuck nodded his head solemnly. He hadn't really understood much of what his sister had just told him, but he knew enough to be grateful for his continued existence. "I feel fuzzy, Ellie. I don't think I like it, it makes it hard to think right."

"I know, sweetie. That's the painkillers they have you on. Trust me, you don't want them to go away right now."

"Okay." Chuck smiled and lifted his hand to grab Ellie's. He squeezed and Ellie squeezed back. Chuck's eyes widened as a memory came flooding back to him. "Sarah! Is she okay?"

Ellie's face softened and she nodded her head. "Sarah is perfectly fine. She had some moderate bruising along her chest but she's going to be fine in a week or two."

"Can I see her?"

"Sure, she's waiting outside with Devon and Morgan."

"Is she mad at me?"

"Why would she be mad at you? She told me you saved her." Ellie looked as if Chuck had just asked the most ludicrous thing in the world.

"I don't remember that, but I do remember her being mad at me."

"Well, you can ask her yourself when she comes see you."

Ellie stood up and walked away, giving Chuck one last smile. Chuck closed his eyes and waited for Sarah to visit. Time had no meaning for him. With the numbing effects of the morphine running through his veins, it was hard to keep a steady head. He was feeling less tired and more alert and aware of his surroundings than he had been only ten minutes ago, but it was still hard to maintain concentration. He figured it would be some time before the exhaustion he felt went away. It wasn't as fun being doped up as he originally thought. He was not himself, he felt defenseless. It was one of the reasons why he had a strong urge to see Sarah. She would make him feel safe. He was familiar with her in a way that unnerved and confused him, but he couldn't help but feel comfortable around her (when she wasn't making him nervous as hell with her proximity).

The door to his hospital room opened and closed. "Sarah?" Chuck forced himself to sit up partially, a rush of euphoric dizziness overcoming him briefly before he felt stable again. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Chuck, it's me." Her voice was barely audible.

"You're too far away." Sarah was, in fact, too far away. She was standing just in front of the door, hands behind her back. Chuck figured she must be holding onto the handle of the door.

With a loud sigh, Sarah began taking measured steps forward. "I just – I really don't know what to say."

"Are you okay? Ellie told me you were hurt."

"Of course I'm fine. It's you everyone's worried about."

"I feel great."

Sarah laughed, but it sounded very forced, and her face morphed into stone barely a second later. "Ellie told me that you were kind of out of it."

"I'm just glad you're here. You make me feel better."

Sarah shut her eyes tightly and stopped moving. She was shaking slightly and Chuck was getting worried. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She was curt and distant.

"You don't look fine."

"Well I am!" Her eyes flew open and she glared at Chuck harshly, angrily.

"Okay." Chuck sunk into his bed. He felt like a puppy that had just gotten its nose smacked for peeing on the carpet.

"I am just so angry with you."

"I told Ellie you were mad at me, but she didn't believe me!"

Sarah took two large strides and came to a stop near the foot of his bed. She was pissed; it was the kind of anger Chuck rarely saw, and it was the kind of look only someone who truly cared for you could pull off. Chuck had experienced it a few times in his life, every single time Ellie growing infuriated with him for doing something ridiculous and almost getting himself killed (like trying to "enhance" his 486 for extra performance while the machine was still plugged in. He was 10 at the time, how smart were you at that age?). It was a mix of how could you be so stupid? and do you have any idea how terrified you just made me? and most importantly, oh my God, I'm so unbelievably happy you're okay. That was the look on Sarah's face and it both scared and pleased Chuck.

"I'm going to ask for a reassignment."

Chuck knew it was comical, but his mouth dropped open and his eyes bulged at Sarah's words. "Wow, okay, I didn't think you were that mad."

"I can't do this anymore, Chuck. You don't listen to me, and you never do what you're supposed to do."

"Like letting you get shot?"

"Yes! That's exactly what you're supposed to do!" Sarah started to pace in front of Chuck, but her motions were ragged and her back and shoulders rigid.

"Excuse me if I find the idea of you being shot absolutely horrible."

"And how the hell do you think I feel?"

Chuck let all his building anger drift away. He sat up as best he could, and paused to suck in a sharp intake of breath as his chest tightened and ached, but the drugs in his system quickly overwhelmed the uncomfortable sensation. He adjusted his bed to the appropriate height and stared at Sarah levelly. For the first time since she walked in, he did his best to look at her critically. She looked awful (which was no small feat). She had the beginning of bags under her eyes, her hair looked limp and lifeless, her body was stiff and robotic, and every sudden or energetic move she made caused her to subtly wince in pain. It was her eyes, though, that worried him most. They looked – not quite dead – but empty of warmth and filled with so much pain and self-loathing. He knew she was taking this hard, that she was blaming herself and would probably continue to blame herself no matter what he said. But Chuck had an undeniable compulsion to protect and care for her emotional well-being, much like she felt the same for his physical well-being (Chuck admired the symmetry, they both clung to what they were best at). He wanted to take away her pain, to shoulder some of the burden, and make her see that he would never be better off with her away.

Chuck took in a calming breath and prepared himself for just letting it all out. "I don't know what you want me to say, Sarah. I did what I had to do, what I felt was right. Because the fact of the matter is, that's who I am, and you know it, and I know it, and hell, I'm sure even Casey knows it. Did pushing you out of the way have to do with how – how I feel about you? I'm not going to lie and say it didn't, because the idea of you getting shot, you possibly dying? Not gonna happen if I can help it, and if it means putting myself in your place, then that's just how it's going to be." Chuck stopped and felt himself a little winded. His arm cooled briefly and he felt a rush of bliss. He struggled to maintain his concentration. "Still, I would have done the same if it had been Ellie or Morgan or Awesome or maybe even Casey. That's me." Chuck paused and a smile slowly expanded on his face, his eyes a little unfocused. "Well, I mean, I'd try with Casey, but have you seen him, he's like a mountain!"

"I can't do it, Chuck. I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because!" Sarah was no longer angry but simply desperate. Chuck could see the begging in her eyes for him to make this easy for her. But Chuck had no intention of doing that now.

Chuck wasn't sure if it was the drugs that gave him the sudden courage (or they could have just dulled his inhibitions and sense of self-preservation) or the nature of the situation, but Chuck said, "I think if you're going to run away, you should at least give me a legitimate reason why."

"I – I – you – " Sarah sputtered, her eyes wide and a little wild. Chuck had never seen her look so flustered before.

Chuck grinned self-deprecatingly. "Yeah, I can't believe I just said that either. It's these drugs, they're evil."

Sarah completely deflated at Chuck's words and took a seat in the chair next to his bed. She leaned forward until her head was resting on Chuck's leg, her eyes closed. Chuck wasn't sure how to react to her sudden shift in mood, but he knew that he wanted to touch her (he normally would have resisted the impulse). He reached out with his hand and placed it gently on her head, his fingers slowly moving up and down her hair. She sighed. "I didn't do my job today."

Chuck nodded, not because he agreed with her, but because he knew that this was coming. "It wasn't your fault. It was mine."

"No." Sarah slowly raised her head, her face wan but dotted with red splotches. Chuck's hand was resting against her cheek now. "I mean, yes it was." At this she looked pointedly at Chuck. "But that's beside the point. It should have never gotten to the point it did. I should have never let it. I let you distract me, I let my emotions get in the way."

"I never saw him either."

"It's not your job too."

"It's not your job either." Sarah immediately opened her mouth to retort and Chuck quickly held up a hand to forestall any argument. "I mean, it's not just your job. It's Casey's job as well and today it was a team effort all around. You can't hold yourself responsible for everything that goes wrong, especially when I have a tendency to ignore you." Chuck smiled wide, letting the drugs go a little to his head in order to make his amusement easier to express (and also more innocent).

Sarah laughed weakly, very weakly, but Chuck felt content. It was a good start. "But Chuck – but you could have – you almost died." Sarah definitely seemed to have a problem with getting her sentences out in one piece.

"Nah, I wasn't worried."

Sarah blinked in surprise. "You weren't?"

"Nope. You told me I was going to be fine, that I would live and have a future, and I believed you." Chuck cocked his head and tried not to smile. "Granted, I was delirious with pain, but it sounded good at the time."

"Oh."

Chuck reached out with his left hand and held it out in the air; he was waiting for Sarah to grab hold of it. He didn't have to wait long and Sarah's warm hand intertwined her fingers with his. Chuck looked directly into Sarah's eyes. "I trust you, Sarah." Sarah looked away but Chuck kept his gaze steady (it was difficult to focus, but he made the effort). "If you leave, who will I trust then?"

"Casey."

"It's not the same and you know why."

Sarah sighed and nodded her head reluctantly. "I know."

"Look, I'll make a deal with you. If you can tell me that leaving me in the hands of some poor, unsuspecting stranger, would make me better off than being in your very capable and smooth hands, then I won't argue with you over this whole reassignment idea anymore."

Chuck felt the exhaustion that he had so far managed to keep at bay suddenly overcome him (he never realized talking could be such hard work) and he had to fight to keep his eyes open. It was so unexpected that he barely managed to stay alert. He was already on a limited energy reserve and with his body becoming so comfortably numb through constant medication, it was time to shut down and let the repairs get underway. He turned his head to check out the status of his IV. It was nearly depleted which both pleased him and made him apprehensive (he really didn't like the idea of writhing in pain for a second time that day). Maybe sleep wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"Chuck?"

Chuck turned back to look at Sarah confused. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

Chuck yawned. "I'm just suddenly tired for some reason."

Sarah smiled softly at him and stood up from her chair. "I should leave so you can sleep."

"Wait, you never answered me."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Chuck."

Chuck wanted to protest that that wasn't really an answer, but he just couldn't do it. He smiled and watched her leave his room. He was asleep soon after.

Sarah quietly shut the door behind her and rubbed the palms of both her hands into her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair and adjusted her clothing. She knew she looked horrible, and that nothing she could do now would make that any different, but she hated looking so discomposed. She didn't even care that looking crappy would only help her cover with Ellie and the others; she wanted some part of her normal, understandable, life back. She sucked in a deep breath and walked down the hallway where she knew the others were still waiting.

Casey came upon her unexpectedly, grabbing her arm and pulling her off into some empty room. She really was off her game, she hadn't even heard or seen him coming. "Casey?

Casey glared at her and tightened his grip on her arm. "Why the hell did you tell Ellie Bartowski that it was me who saved Chuck's life?"

Sarah snorted and removed Casey's hand from her arm. She tried hard not to grin. "You know what they say, every good lie has some truth behind it."

"She won't leave me alone! She's insisting that when Chuck gets out of here that she throws me some kind of thank you party." Casey folded his arms across his chest and looked expectantly at Sarah. "I've tried to tell her that it's not necessary but that woman is relentless."

Sarah smirked and stood up a little straighter. "You told me to come up with something, so I did."

"I said something reasonable." Casey grunted in disgust. "Telling her that I stopped some guy from robbing the Wienerlicious with a bottle of ketchup is not reasonable."

Sarah tried to make herself stay serious, but a few chuckles escaped her stoic façade. "I thought Chuck would appreciate it."

Casey rolled his eyes and grunted. He pulled his arms even closer to his chest, making his biceps bulge even more than usual. "Next time I'm going to make up the damn cover story." Casey glared at her one last time and stomped out of the room.

Once Casey was gone, Sarah let herself smile and laugh out loud, most of it a release of tension. Her cover story had come to her literally while she was dialing Ellie's number. She had just let the words come tumbling out of her mouth as she formed them in her head. Normally, she would have never created a cover story so haphazardly, but she had been too out of it to put serious thought behind the endeavor. Surprisingly, the story had ended up sounding more convincing than she had expected. A robbery gone wrong; it had seemed the easiest and most likely explanation for why Chuck had been shot. He had been in the Wiernerlicious visiting her, when some methhead stormed into the place and demanded she hand over all the money. Of course something had gone wrong, of course Chuck got in the way, and he'd been shot because the methhead had a nervous trigger finger. After that, she added the ketchup bottle detail because she knew it'd bother Casey, and Ellie had accepted the whole thing at face value. It had troubled her how easily she found herself lying to Ellie, but she knew that it was for her own good. It was the only thing that consoled her about the whole affair.

Sarah combed her hair with her hand a few more times and walked back to the hallway. She only had to go a few more feet before she reached Ellie, Devon, Morgan, and a still annoyed Casey, standing noticeably distant from Ellie. Sarah smirked at that and came to a halt in front of Ellie. She knew Ellie would want a progress report. "I think he's asleep."

"Good. The more sleep he gets, the better." Ellie stood up quickly, gave her a critical eye, and then wrapped her in a hug. She whispered into Sarah's ear, "I'm so happy that he has someone like you to look after him."

Sarah hugged Ellie back, stiffly at first, but after a little she became more natural. It was so nice to be treated like a member of the family, any family, and to know that there were people out there who actually cared about her, and not about what she could do for them. "I'm just happy he's going to be okay."

Ellie nodded her head and tightened her hold. "Thank you for being there for him. I just – I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him."

Sarah knew exactly how Ellie felt, because she felt the same way. The idea of losing Chuck was unfathomable to her at this point. She was far too invested. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, and neither is he."

And she realized that she wasn't, and he most definitely was not either. She would have to change how she did things that was for sure. No more getting distracted on missions, no more letting her emotions get the best of her. She knew at this point it was impossible to remove them completely, so she would have to learn to minimize their impact. But there was no way she could ever trust anyone else with protecting Chuck. No way. It was her job and Chuck was her responsibility, and if something were to ever happen to Chuck because she wasn't there to protect him, to help him, to even just hold his hand and reassure him that everything would be okay and there was no need to freak out, she'd never be able to forgive herself.

Sarah pulled back from Ellie and smiled. "Actually, I think I'm going to go back and sit with him for a little while more."

Ellie gave her another quick hug and there was a knowing look in her eyes that made Sarah blush. "I understand."

Sarah turned around and walked back down the hallway to Chuck's room.

The End!