I originally wasn't going to post any more until I was finished but I'm close and with the wonderful news of Chuck's renewal I thought I'd post a chapter to celebrate. :) Thanks as
always for the reviews. :)
Title: Sacrifice
Author: Cindy Ryan
Pairings: Chuck/Sarah
Timeline: Alternate ending for Chuck vs the best friend and AU from there
After seeing Morgan safely home Sarah sat at a stoplight. The tail end of rush hour traffic was fading.
She'd received a message from Casey stating they were ordered to take some time off.
Sarah ran a hand across her forehead as she briefly closed her eyes. She understood what the General was doing….but she wasn't sure if she could stay here any longer.
Part of her wasn't sure she could stay with the CIA…..
Sarah swallowed hard she knew Chuck would want her to. He'd want her to keep going after the bad guys.
How could she? She'd failed….
An angry car honk caused Sarah to jump and jerk her attention back to the stop light which was now green.
She negotiated the turn. As she did Sarah found herself heading back to the Orange Orange.
Habit.
Flooring the accelerator Sarah headed for the 101. Maybe a walk along the beach would dull the pain a little.
However Sarah knew there was only one thing that would do that and he was never coming back.
******
Doctor Daniel Beckett looked down at the latest patient in his small free clinic. The young man who appeared to be in his late twenties looked like he'd been through hell. Clothes were torn, right shoulder dislocated, right wrist broken, several bruised ribs, second degree burns on his back, numerous lacerations, not to mention dehydration….
The brown haired man in his forties shook his head as he handed the clipboard back to a red haired nurse.
"Thank you, Kristie. Keep an eye on his vitals and let me know if his breathing changes."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Somebody worked him over good."
Beckett glanced over at the black man in his thirties leaning against the door. Detective Paul Sheldon did security for the clinic twice a week.
"Seems that way."
Sheldon raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You don't think so?"
"His injuries are more consistent with trauma or an accident."
"I haven't gotten anywhere yet on his ID."Sheldon replied. "Nobody matching his description was reported missing within the last six months. Guy really has bad luck to get robbed on top of everything."
Beckett nodded. "He's well groomed, new clothes…..somebody somewhere is missing him."
Sheldon pulled out his car keys. "I can take his prints, run them through the system see if we get a hit."
"Thank you."
*******
Ellie's right hand froze on the door handle to her brother's room. She'd been standing there for half an hour.
She just couldn't make her feet move.
Couldn't make them cover the familiar path they'd walked a thousand times.
Devon has offered to get what she needed but she'd turned him down. Stating stubbornly that she was ready to face what was beyond that door.
Now Ellie knew she wasn't ready.
She'd never be ready.
Ellie rested her forehead against the wood surface and let the tears flow again.
She still couldn't believe it.
Her baby brother gone.
Her only family……the boy she'd practically raised alone….
All the times she'd helped him with his homework…..
Made his lunch…..
Taught him how to tie his shoes….
"Babe."
Ellie turned at the gentle touch to her right shoulder not surprised to find Devon behind her.
He was never far away these days.
"I'm okay."Ellie sniffled not releasing her grip on the door handle.
Devon's hand covered hers gently starting to remove it from the door. "Let me…"
Ellie removed her hand from the door knob and placed it on her fiancée's chest as she wiped the tears away with the other.
"Thank you….."Her voice dropped to a whisper than became stronger. "I need to do this….for the service….there's some pictures…h-he kept them in the closet…."
Devon placed a soft kiss on Ellie's forehead. "I'm right here."
Ellie nodded before turning and taking a deep breathe. She turned the door knob and slowly pushed the door open.
Flipping on the light what was left of Ellie's heart broke as she saw a familiar figure sitting on the window sill. Sneakered feet dangled absently rested on an old basketball.
"Oh, Morgan."The young doctor whispered as she moved further into the room.
"I'm sorry."Morgan replied brokenly. "I-I didn't want to disturb….but I didn't know where else….."
After Sarah had dropped him off, Morgan had felt everything closing in on him. His mother hadn't been home….he couldn't turn to Anna….too many memories everywhere…
Ellie instantly pulled her brother's best friend into a hug. "You'll always be family here."
*******
Casey squeezed the trigger of his gun.
Once.
Twice.
Four times.
He emptied the clip before lowering the weapon and hitting the button next to him to retrieve the paper target.
As the target moved towards him Casey took the ear muffs off and rested them on his neck.
He'd been at this for almost two hours.
What he usually did when he had free time.
This time however it hadn't had the same affect.
There was no relaxing, no comparing his scores to ones past.
Everytime he squeezed off a shot Casey was reminded of why he had the free time.
Reminded of his failure.
Reminded that no matter how good a marksman, no matter how good an agent, a man was still dead.
A colleague had died because of him.
Casey shook his head as he placed a fresh target on the hook and hit the button to move it back into place.
John stared at the retreating target trying to keep the memories at bay.
This was hardly the first team member he'd lost and it wouldn't be the last either.
It was how the world was.
It was how the job was.
Good guys didn't always win no matter how good they were.
Casey put the earmuffs back on and reloaded his weapon. He raised the gun and continued practicing.
Next time….he wasn't going to fail.
*******
Sarah pulled the light jacket tighter around herself as she walked along the Pacific.
The wind had picked up but Sarah barely noticed. The ocean mist mixed with her tears.
Sarah had learned long ago that life wasn't fair.
A lesson taught by her father and confirmed by the CIA.
Being around Chuck and his family Sarah had started to think that she might one day have a normal life outside of the job.
Something she hadn't thought about before.
With a sigh Sarah stopped and sat down on the sand. The beach was nearly deserted the weather was still cool not a night to tempt to many beach goers.
Sarah wiped her face with the sleeve of her jacket and stared out at the waves.
She'd tried so hard to protect Chuck.
She'd killed to keep his identity safe.
Even that hadn't been enough.
Fate had stepped in taking away Sarah's chance at happiness.
True happiness.
Sarah shook her head as she drew her knees to her chest.
She'd enjoyed what she'd had with Bryce.
She thought it'd been love but now she knew it hadn't been.
At least not the forever kind.
Sarah knew that was the kind she and Chuck had.
He'd offered his heart to her so many times unspoken or not.
If only she been able to trust his vision of their future.
Unbidden memories of them posing as a husband and wife floated to the surface bringing fresh pain.
Chuck didn't know how close she'd come to giving in during that mission.
Living together even if for that brief of time had given Sarah a glimpse of what they could have.
The doctored wedding photos had almost been painful for her to look at.
Knowing if they had met differently…..if they'd had different lives…..that picture might have been real.
Sarah stared out at the dark waves. "I promise you, Chuck….I'll make sure that they don't hurt anyone else."
She knew now that she had to stay with the CIA. To keep her promise to Chuck.
Some how some way she'd make sure the Triads and everyone like them would not hurt anyone else…..would not destroy another family.
No matter how long it took.
********
It was almost midnight when Doctor Beckett's cell phone rang. He'd just been closing the clinic for the night.
"Hello?"
"Dan, its Paul Sheldon….sorry for the late call just wanted to let you know I've made progress on our John Doe."
"That's good news, Paul."Beckett replied as he walked to his car. "Who is he? Have you contacted the family?"
"Afraid my progress isn't that good yet the prints weren't in the system….got a few leads….going to keep digging."
"Thanks, Paul….keep me posted."
"Will do."
