Thank you charahkids for being my beta. Thanks at the bottom as always.

Chapter 8

"Sarah. Sarah!" Ellies voice came through hushed and hurried, shaking her awake. Sarah immediately bolted up and looked around, reaching to grab the gun that was normally under her pillow before remembering she hadn't placed it there before her nap. She was in Orion's hide out at the moment and they were as safe as they could ever be.

"Ellie?" She said sleepily, her heart rate slowly coming back down from being woken up so quickly.

"You have to come. Now! Let's go." Ellie said quickly, standing from where she knelt next to the couch and pulling Sarah up with her. Sarah was confused but didn't say anything as Ellie grabbed her hand and dragged her to the secret door near the kitchen that would take them down to Orion's workshop.

"Ellie what's going on? Are we under attack?" She asked her friend, trying to slow down on the stairs so she's not pulled down them, resulting in her possibility of falling.

"What? Oh, no. we're fine. Everything's secure. It's Chuck." She responded, not stopping.

Chuck's name sprang Sarah into action and with that she let go of her friends hand and ran ahead of her down the hall. They entered a room to the side and Sarah stopped in her tracks at the sound of screaming echoing throughout the room and looked to the screen that stood along one wall.

"What the fuck?" She said, seeing Chuck slamming himself against the cushioned walls of the room he was in. She looked to the others who had bleak expressions on their faces as they watched the scene before them. She stepped further into the room, next to Orion, and looked down at him with piercing eyes.

"What is going on?" She asked, glowering at the man that was Chuck's father. Orion sighed tiredly and turned his chair to face her grimly before speaking.

"While you were on your way here I watched some of the saved surveillance from the bunker. They saved it all on an internal server that I was able to access and download once the USB was attached to it." He paused and Sarah watched his face intently.

"And?" She prompted after several minutes, not able to take much more of the silence.

"And we, Devon, Ellie, Morgan and I were concerned that once he woke up he could, and probably would attempt to hurt himself." He replied sadly.

Sarah's eyes narrowed at him in anger for not being told this before, and for them to not tell her. "So you put him in a padded cell alone? That was your answer?"

"We didn't want to Sarah. But you haven't seen the videos. They tortured him into submission. We were concerned for his state of mind."

Sarah scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest in anger, afraid if she didn't contain her hands she may reach out and strangle him. Chuck's screams still filled the room but became less powerful as he wore himself out. She glanced at the screen next to her, watching as Chuck slammed himself one more time into the softened wall before collapsing in a heap on the floor, muffled whimpers still coming out.

"I couldn't stand for him to be restrained Sarah, which would have been the best option. We built this after hearing from Casey that it was decided to keep him sedated." He explained. Sarah nodded and finally looked back at Orion, seeing the pain in his face. It was the same pain that she felt in her heart. He just wanted what was best for his son, to keep him safe, to make him better.

"What's happening then? Did any of you talk to him yet?" She asked them.

"Devon was in there checking on him when he finally woke up." Ellie said softly, a sniffle escaping from her as she closed her eyes. "He was so scared Sarah. He attacked Devon, broke his fingers-"

"Nothing that won't heal babe."

"He bit you, Devon. My brother bit you on the neck like some, vampire or something." She covered her face with both her hands and Sarah's heart twinge at seeing the distress her friend was in. She glanced back to the security camera, watching as Chuck lay on his side facing one of the walls, breathing heavily.

"It's not his fault El." Devon soothed. He went to wrap his arms around him only to have Ellie brush them off and walk away.

"Of course it's not. Chuck would never do anything like that. He's like an animal or something now." She said angrily.

Casey sat down heavily on the chair behind him, letting out a slight growl that would make weaker men shake. Sarah's eyes met his, and he slightly nodded. He knew what had happened, and so did she. Chuck was for the most part a very cooperative person. He had put up with a lot from the government all with no pay or even a thank you. However the loss of his freedom and being taken away from his environment would be a shock to Chuck and she knew, always had, that he would not do well in a bunkered environment.

It was standard SOP. Depending on the asset, the government while taking away their freedom would practically bend over backwards to gain the cooperation of their asset. However when those methods prove fruitless the government has no problem with using more firm methods of persuasion. One of those methods was drug control.

Laughter filled the silent room, startling them. As one they turned towards the screen seeing Chuck in the same position on his side staring at the wall, his laughter filled and echoed around the room. Sarah narrowed her eyes at the screen, watching intently for anything.

"Stop. That's not true." Chuck said. "Pigs do fly, haven't you seen the Simpsons movie? Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever spider pig does. Does he swing from a web, no he can't, he's a pig. Spider pig!"

"The hell?" Casey stated the same thing that was running through all of their minds.

"We did a toxicology report on him. His blood contained traces of sodium amobarbital and LSD." Devon said quietly.

"Sodium what?" Morgan asked confused. Sarah shook her head unable to answer. It was bad. Really bad.

"It's a barbiturate. It has sedative properties loosening the users inhibitions. Combined with the LSD, well." Devon explained.

"It's used as a truth serum. To loosen the tongues of stubborn prisoners, or in this case, assets." Casey added.

"Is he, well, Chuck…" Morgan bumbled a few more tries before eventually going quiet.

Sarah couldn't look at him, not wanting to see the pain and worry that was undoubtedly sketched all over his face over the situation. She imagined that the poor little man felt strangely overwhelmed. Just over a year ago he was just another Buy Morian, working in a dead end job that he absolutely loved to hate, working with his best friend. But now he's been pulled into the world of international espionage and participating in an act of treason by breaking Chuck out of a government controlled bunker.

Chuck and Morgan's lives were simple before the government got involved. Their days consisted of going to work, putting up with crazy co-workers and customers then coming home and indulging of never ending gaming while eating junk food.

Even Devon and Ellies lives used to be simple. Just plain ol' doctors, albeit great ones with the potential to go on to do great things in their respective fields. It was really a testament to Chuck's integrity that these three people would give up their lives, their existence to rescue him from the clutches of the government.

"Morgan buddy. I can't say he'll be perfectly alright." Devon said comfortingly. "Especially without a psych eval but I'm confident enough to say that he'll be mostly alright because he has us. And we will not let him down."

"Yeah Morgan. We won't give up on him. Right now we need to detox him of the drugs and then we'll see what we're working with." Ellie told him and to everyone's surprise hugged Morgan.

Those in the room nodded their agreement as Ellie finally burst into tears, letting go of Morgan to wrap her arms around her husband's neck. Sarah sat down heavily in the chair next to Orion, still looking at the monitor in front of her, watching as Chuck rolled onto his back, a huge smile on his face as he continued talking to whatever imaginary thing was there. Sarah's heart felt itself breaking and she wanted to curl up in a corner and cry, but she refused to allow herself to. They had come too far, she had lost too much. She would not give up on Chuck. Not now, not ever.

Even if that means he was forever insane.

Sarah stood on the outside of the locked door to where Chuck was. They had all stayed in that command room that Orion had set up watching Chuck, his every move on the screen for a couple more hours nobody wanting to leave him alone. Sarah felt hollow watching it, felt guilty. Though they were there to help him, she felt at the moment they were no better than the people who had trapped him in that tiny room with their video cameras watching his every move 24 hours a day.

Orion sat in the chair next to her, alternating his view from watching his son whither on the floor, talking to imaginary beings or screaming out at invisible enemies in pain and watching more of the video he downloaded from the facility. Occasionally Sarah's eyes would turn from Chuck to watch his isolation, only to cringe and turn away as the truth of what had been done to Chuck came to their light.

She couldn't take it anymore, just sitting there. And a few hours later she announced she was going to go into the room. That she had been away from him for a year and she was ready to be with him, tell him he was safe and start the road to recovery and freedom.

Orion didn't like the idea, at least until they knew further what had been done to Chuck while he was captive. But he had a years' worth of surveillance that recorded every move of his life. She didn't have time or patience for that and neither did Chuck. He needed her now.

So she stood outside his door, waiting patiently, staring up at the camera in the corner by the door, for Orion to unlock the door. She glared hard at it, indicating that she was not playing and he better do what she says or there will be consequences. A moment later the door clicked indicating it was unlocked and Sarah slowly, hesitatingly opened the door.

Chuck had moved from where she saw him just minutes before. On the screen he had been laying on his side still, babbling away. The sound of the door must have scared him as he had scrambled quickly into the far corner furthest from the door, curled up as small as possible with his long arms wrapped around his legs, his face in his chin.

Sarah hesitated for a moment before stepping fully into the room, the door shutting behind her and beeping softly, indicating it's locked. She twitched her fingers slightly, her left hand twirling the plastic from the Ziploc bag Ellie had handed her on her way in. It held a peanut butter jelly sandwich for Chuck.

"Chuck?" She said softly from where she stood, watching him as he shook. But he didn't reply. "Chuck, it's me Sarah."

She took a couple more steps into the room towards Chuck, walking slowly and steadily remembering what he had done to Devon. She knew Chuck would feel bad for that once he came back to himself but she was cautious. She'd be able to handle herself if Chuck went crazy on her but she didn't want to have to hurt him. He was hurt enough and she didn't want him associating her with pain.

Staying a few feet away from him she knelt down on the floor on her knees and sat there quietly, patiently. She would let him make the first move. She would sit there quietly, patiently and hopefully he'll see she's not a threat to him. Or even better, recognize her and wrap his arms tightly around her body, happy to see her.

There wasn't a clock in the room so Sarah wasn't quite sure how long she sat there on the floor. Her legs begun to burn from the awkward position she was in on the floor. She wondered if Chuck felt the same stress on his body but she doubted it. He's had a whole year to get used to it. Exhaustion begun filling though her veins as she sat and she fought the urge to just lie down on the matrasses floor and just go to sleep. She wondered lazily how Chuck would take that.

Her mind wondered as she waited, catching on to what Chuck was saying before. In her mind she replayed everything he had said, trying to decipher who it was he thought he was talking to. It could be anyone if she was honest, but it did cause a smile to cross her face remembering spider pig. She remembered watching that movie with Chuck in the theater on a fake date. She had laughed so hard at it that she had spit out the water she was drinking and nearly choked as she doubled over laughing with a few snorts added in.

It was very un-spy like.

Regardless it entertained her and she was glad she went. Lost in her memory she found herself humming the tune to spider pig under her breath, a lazy smile plastered across her face.

"Sarah?" A soft voice called out. Immediately Sarah snapped out of her memory and looked over at Chuck. He was staring at her with wide eyes peeking over the top of his arm.

"Yes Chuck, it's me." She said. Silence descended the room again as the two of them analyzed each other. Everything in Sarah's being was screaming at her to close the distance that was between them and just wrap her arms tightly around Chuck. But she resisted, as much as she hated to do so.

"I don't know." Chuck murmur to himself, looking off to the side of Sarah. She followed his gaze and noting nothing but thin air there. "Maybe."

"Chuck, who are you talking to?" She asked him concerned. But Chuck didn't answer her as he turned more towards the wall.

Tears welled up in eyes and she watched him talk to himself. She now knew that most likely one of the imaginary people in his head was her and by that summation the other was probably Casey.

"There's no way. No. Just stop." Chuck said loudly to the imaginary person.

"Chuck." She tried again, scooting a few inches closer to him on the floor. She felt her fingers grace the Ziploc bag and she looked down at it. Picking it up, she held it in her hands, staring at it for a few moments before opening it and taking the sandwich out. "Are you hungry?"

Chuck stopped his soft babbling at the smell of the peanut butter from the sandwich and peek out over his thin arms again.

"This is cruel." He said to her and her brows narrowed. She didn't know what that meant, and quite frankly she was afraid to find out.

"No Chuck. It's real. It's your favorite. Ellie made it. You're safe now." She said softly holding out the sandwich to him. He didn't reach out for it, just stared at it and at her. "What did they do to you?" She whispered.

Taking a chance Sarah got back up on her knees and closed the remaining feet between them, leaving several inches still spaced and placed the sandwich precariously on top of Chuck's folded arm before moving back again. Chuck turned his brown eyes from her and onto the sandwich on his harm. He eyed it warily for a moment or two before his other hand snaked out and quickly grabbed it. Moving with speed she didn't think he had strength for Chuck crawled to the opposite corner from her and huddled there while he devoured the sandwich.

It was too much for her, watching this. Seeing him scared and afraid. Watching him as he devoured a simple sandwich as if it was his first meal in who knows how long. He was overly thin now true. According to Devon he was severely malnourished but she didn't know how he got that way. The government was cruel but it would never starve their assets, especially if they needed them as badly as they needed the Intersect.

She had to leave. Her mind and body screamed at her that she couldn't watch this anymore. Couldn't take it any longer. It was too overwhelming and there were too many unanswered questions that she demanded answers to.

Sarah stood up then and watched Chuck for a few more moments. She wanted to go over to him and touch him, run her fingers through his shortened patchy hair and tell him that she would be back. That she would return for him but she resisted, not quite sure how he would take it.

"I'll be back Chuck." She said to him. He ignored her, not responding. Sarah didn't really expect one, though she had hoped for one.

With one final glance in his direction she turned around and headed for the door, glaring angrily at the security camera that hung there as she waited for it to unlock. After hearing the beep from the door she gave one last brooding glance in Chuck's direction before finally exiting and closing the door securely, waiting for another beep to indicate it was locked.

Determination in her step Sarah walked down the hall to the command room where Casey, Ellie and Orion were sitting, opening the door then slamming it shut.

"What the hell happened to him?" She demanded angrily. Logically she knew that the people here had nothing to do with what happened to Chuck and how he is now but she was angry, she was beyond angry. She wanted answers.

"It's a lot worse than we originally thought Sarah." Orion started off grimly. "They isolated him immediately. He hasn't had any human contact since he was taken. He fell into a depression pretty quickly and refused to cooperate."

"He wouldn't flash?" Sarah asked taking the seat next to Stephen again. She glanced at the monitor next to her; Chuck had laid out on his side again facing the wall.

"Oh no, he flashed Walker. You know he can't control it. But he wouldn't give the information." Casey said.

Orion tapped a few keys in front of him and one of the monitors flickered from the current view of Chuck to surveillance from the bunker.

"See the wall here would open up push out." They watched as it did and a stack of folders and papers were stacked on a sliding table that protruded from the wall.

Sarah couldn't help but notice the difference in this room from what she had found him in. The furniture was nicer, more real. The walls were still bare and pure white but the furniture looked to be better quality and there were objects such as comic books and a television with a video game console there. However Chuck didn't approach the folders didn't even get up from the bed that at least looked big enough for someone of his size. He remained on his bed staring at the wall, not unlike what he was currently doing at the present moment.

"They would play video and sound clips on the television and he would flash but he wouldn't report what he saw. He barely moved, he wouldn't eat." Orion continued.

Sarah bristled and stood up, not able to watch any more of the video. "I told them. Multiple times. Chuck would not do well in a solitary environment." She ranted. "I told them he would withdraw and all their precious information would be useless."

"Sarah, it's not your fault." Ellie stated calmly, but Sarah brushed off her remark.

"It is, I should have done more." With that she sat down heavily in the chair again, closing her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them she looked back at the screen, staring at him for another moment or two she finally turned her gaze back to Orion, nodding her head for him to continue.

He pressed a few more keys on the keyboard and the time stamp moved up a week. She couldn't helped the stunned expression on her face at how much everything transformed in such a short amount of time. All the nicer furniture had been taken away and what was left was the crap stuff that was in his room when she rescued him. Gone were the clothes that Chuck had been wearing, the normal everyday clothes, and there was the standard white shirt and pants.

Still, Chuck stayed in the same position, unmoving and it was really unnerving to Sarah.

"You said he hadn't had any contact since he got there. How did they change everything?" She asked curiously.

"Like this." The screen changed and Sarah watched as a projector type device came out of the ceiling. A loud sound came from the screen and everyone in the room jumped at the same time as Chuck. The projector turned on, placing images all across the room on every surface but especially on the pure white walls. They were beautiful kaleidoscope illusions. Sarah watched in confusion, not sure what this had to do with anything when the wall where the door was hidden well opened up and five men came in and began moving things out. Sarah watched as they moved about the room, even moving Chuck without his notice.

"What…?" She started but couldn't figure out exactly what the question was. Chucks eyes were wide opened but not seeing. He didn't even notice what was going on around him.

"It was something they put into that update he had before they took him. Its allows them to make him docile.

"So what? They give him just about anything that could make him happy then take it all away when he doesn't cooperate with them?" Ellie asked angrily. "This is only a week later. They couldn't have expected him to just give in in such a short amount of time."

Sarah agreed with her friend. The government, while complete assholes with no regard to individuals, did have patience to a certain degree. She looked over to Orion to see if there was something he wasn't telling them only to see him and Casey having some kind of silent conversation. Sarah felt anger stab through her gut as she sat up in the chair.

"What aren't you telling us?" she demanded, looking between the two. She eyed Casey angrily and eventually he gave a nod of his head towards Ellie. Obviously there was something else horrible happening that they didn't want Sarah or Ellie to know about. But the time for sensitivities was long past. They needed everything they could help Chuck. "Tell us."

With a nod from Casey, Orion switched the video back the previous day. The four of them watched as the projector was lowered once again from the ceiling then proceeded to play video as sound bites came through the speakers. Sarah ignored everything else that was in the room and focused solely on Chuck, watching intently as she recognized the signs of a flash as his eyes rolled up and he went still. Only this time instead of ending and shaking his head, making some kind of sarcastic comment or a look of fear, it immediately started again. Then again.

Horror crossed Sarah's face as she realized what was happening. That they were forcing Chuck into continual flashing. After a few minutes of it Chuck finally covered his ears and shut his eyes a tight as he could between flashes, but it did no good. It wasn't enough. He screamed out in pain and terror, his voice mixing with the sound bites, the images from the projector dancing all around the now darkened room making it seem as if he were in some kind of drug induced psychosis.

Sarah wanted it to stop and was about to shout at Orion to turn it off when Chuck stumbled off the bed, hands covering his ears, his fingers clawed into the side of his head. Sarah felt overwhelmed and disoriented from all the chaos happening on the screen. She couldn't imagine what Chuck was feeling. However the horror wasn't finished as Chuck fell to his knees in front of the wooden desk in that tiny room and begun smashing his head against the edge of it.

"Oh god. Stop it. STOP!" Ellie's voice rang out. Orion immediately turned the video off. Sarah wasn't able to look away from the blackened screen. Her breath's coming in short drags as her heart beat wildly. She understood why they took the furniture out. They didn't want the Intersect hurting himself.

"So they drove him crazy? Is that it?" Ellie asked, her voice just a notch away from hysterical. Sarah didn't want to hear the answer to that but she had no choice and Orion gave a soft yes.

"Once they made it so he wouldn't be able to harm himself they started drugging his food and water. To get him to talk. The information wasn't as clear as it would be if he wasn't under any form of duress but it was enough for them." Orion explained.

"I…I can't…" Sarah couldn't voice what was going on in her mind. The agency she had pledged loyalty to since she was 17 had damaged the most wonderful person in the world. Even if she wasn't considered a traitor at the moment, she didn't think she'd be able to go back to them, or any other agency. Not now.

"Those marks on his body. Dad, did he do them himself?" Ellie asked. She didn't need an answer to that. Everyone already knew.

"Fuck." Was all Sarah could say

A/N: I meant to have this out a few days ago but I've got a really bad cold and I think I may be dying. *nods* most logical explanation I believe.

zanex9: Thank you. I'm really sorry about that.

phnxgrl: They were not very nice to him sadly.

Nomadic Nerd: I'm so sorry about the cliffhanger. I have read the fanfic, and it wasn't a nod to them sorry. I wish I was that clever lol. that's an interesting POV you have there. Most people are rooting for revenge, but I myself am always preferring justice, revenge makes you no better then the bad guys.

wilf21: As my father, a government employee born, raised, and worked his whole life tells me all the time, the government can do whatever they damn well please. Poor Chuck.

atcDave: thank you and Tadah!

sevenrez: Well if he came out fine and dandy I wouldn't have a story to tell now would I :-p.

charahkids: I hate cliffies. So many people use them, and then make you wait forever. Its rude!

Rob M (Guest): Well, it wouldn't be an interesting story if he was just fine and dandy! But I always try to give him some kind of happy ending.

phathead01: There you are! I was wondering where you were.

nire47: Hehehe, we'll just have to find out! Er...but later though.