I hope you're all doing ok without their weekly Chuck fix. I am having some trouble but writing this is helping me cope. I hope you all are doing better than me. Now back to the story because I am losing my sanity as I type this annoying paragraph.

**I do not own Chuck** (I am crying inside)

Chuck, Sarah, Morgan, and Casey watch diligently as the door opens; the alarm blazing around them, flashing red through out the hallways. The door finally opens. They all stand there in disbelief. This cannot be real. There is no way but it is right ahead of them.

"Dad?" Chuck asks surprised. His dad, Stephen J. Bartowski, stands before them. He doesn't react to Chuck. "Dad! Is that you?" Chuck asks mystified.

"FREEZE!" Chuck, Sarah, Morgan, and Casey are surrounded by men with guns. Sarah, Casey, and Morgan all put their hands up, disappointedly. Chuck looks at his dad waiting for a response. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Chuck, tuning out the men with the guns, runs up to his dad to hug him but goes right through him.

"What the…" Chuck sways his hand through his dad. It is just a hologram. He is gravely disappointed.

"DROP THE GUN!" The man yells one last time. Chuck stands their in dissatisfaction. He raises his gun slowly and shaky almost like he has a death wish.

BOOM. A gun shot goes off and Chuck hits the ground hard and fast.

"Nooooo!" Sarah screams at the top of her lungs. She lunges at the man who shot Chuck and he watches her crumble in heartbreak. She falls to her knees before she can reach the man and breaks into tears. "How could you!" She screams in sadness. "It was only a tranq gun!" Sarah's soul dies inside her body.

The men take Sarah, Casey, and Morgan to a torture chamber as Chuck lies there lifeless. Two men then drag him into a room and check his pulse. Chuck quickly gasps for air as he feels the insurmountable pain.

"Ahh!" He screams in pain. Chuck puts pressure on the bullet hole on his right shoulder. The two men stand over him as he sits there in pain. Chuck suddenly flashes and the pain slowly starts to ease. He flashed on a coping method for pain. He was a little confused on the whole flash but he went with it. Chuck notices the men standing there almost satisfied. Chuck quickly flashes and all his kung-fu skills come to him and he slowly gets up. The men think he will be easy to stop so they don't ready themselves. Chuck quickly punches one of them in the face. The man stumbles backwards as the other man looks in surprise. The man turns his head to look at his friend stumbling back. As he turns his head back at Chuck, a right hook blasts him in the temple. The man falls to the ground unconscious. The other man finally recovers and gets in a fighter stance.

"I didn't think anyone could fight through a bullet wound," the man explains surprised. Chuck sits there alertly ready for the man's next move. "You have some balls fighting in that condition."

Chuck smirks deviously as if he wants the man to attack. The man smirks and starts pulling out his gun. Chuck reacts quickly and charges the man. The gun comes out of the holster as Chuck grabs the man's hand. A gun shot goes off and the struggle continues. Chuck quickly elbows the man in the stomach and disarms him. The man is now scared. He attacks out of fear and Chuck just dodges the man and kicks him in the back of the knee. The man falls to his knees and Chuck pummels him with a side-winding kick to the cheek. The man falls unconsciously and Chuck looks a bit satisfied. He takes both of the men's weapons and wraps rips a piece of his shirt to wrap around his shoulder to cover the wound. After he successfully wraps it, he looks for everyone else. Morgan, Sarah, and Casey are all chained to the wall in a torture chamber.

"Where are we?" Morgan asks in terror. Sarah looks like an empty body without a soul. She hangs there lifeless; her skin pale, eyes are dilated so much that there is almost no blue left to admire.

"In a torture chamber," Casey responds knowing Sarah is in no condition to do anything.

"Why would they torture us? We don't know anything," Morgan shivers in fear.

"That is because they killed Bartowski," Casey explains.

"He is not dead!" Sarah immediately wakes up from her coma to defend Chuck.

"Walker, Sarah, I know it is hard to believe but his is dead. He go shot," Casey shows his sympathy by calling her by her first name.

"This has to be one of the worst tortures ever," Morgan complains.

"The torture hasn't even started," Casey is annoyed with Morgan.

"Chuck said the same thing when he was being tortured," Sarah explains in depression. She remembers Chuck's hilarious antics that somehow got him out of the most awkward situations. She quickly, viciously throws her head left and right. She says to herself, "I have to get him out of my head. He is dead." She tries to forget about Chuck but cannot. "I can't forget about him. He is still alive. I know it." Her emotional side fights with her agent side. "He is dead. He was only a mission." Sarah is going through an epiphany. "He is coming to save us right now. He feigned death to trick the enemies. He has to be alive." She feels optimistic. "He's gone. There was nothing I can do. I need to move on." She gets angry. "He is alive. He has to be alive. I know he is alive." "He is alive!" Sarah screams as it echoes through the chamber. Casey and Morgan look at her in confusion.

"I want to believe you Walker, I really do," Casey tries to cheer her up; "I just don't think he can survive that."

"I believe you. Chuck can do anything and surviving a bullet is on that list," Morgan consoles Sarah optimistically. They all hang there in sadness and disappointment. The man who shot Chuck walks in and introduces himself.

"Hello there, I will be your executioner for the day. Would you like it quick and painless or slow and painful?" The man asks devilishly with an evil smirk on his face.

"I'm going to kill you!" Sarah yells at him.

"Whoa. She has quite the attitude. Is it maybe because I killed your lover?" The man acts like he didn't do anything to deserve the hostility. The man looks at Casey and Casey grunts.

"I can tell you want it slow and painful," the man remarks. Casey just grunts again. He then looks at Morgan's shivering body.

"Why are you here? I think a ten year old girl has more balls than you," the man offends Morgan. Morgan is scared and doesn't know what to do there but just ignore the man.

"So, who wants to go first?" Casey grunts as the man asks the question. "Looks like you want to die first." The man starts walking closer to Casey. Casey smirks as he grunts optimistically.

"You want me to get closer? Want to tell me a secret?" The man asks rhetorically as he steps closer. Casey slowly cocks his head backwards as the man's face is now centimeters away from Casey's face. Casey flings his head forward and smashes his forehead on the man's nose. The man stumbles backwards screaming in pain. Casey just smirks satisfied. "You're going to die the most painful death ever," the man screams in anger as his nose is bleeding everywhere. The man walks out to attend to his nose.

Chuck is searching around looking for Sarah, Morgan, and Casey. He gets back to the vault door where he saw the holograph of his dad earlier. He knows they took everyone to the right so he goes that way. He sneaks ahead and checks each corner carefully before proceeding. He comes up on the man with the bloody nose. He sees the man holding a tissue to his nose and his head tilted back with blood on his hands. Chuck knows that either Sarah or Casey did that to him so he follows the man. Sarah, Casey and Morgan hang there not sure if they will be among the living for much longer.

"Well, it was nice working with you Walker," Casey says.

"You too, Casey," Sarah responds while still almost dead inside.

"What about me?" Morgan asks.

"You were basically just a nuisance," Casey starts explaining to Morgan.

"Where is the love?" Morgan asks frivolously trying to cope with the idea of death.

"I guess you served some purpose," Casey finishes explaining.

Sarah still sits there in sorrow and pain. She cannot get the image of Chuck out of her head. She can't stop imagining him: the curly brown hair that she loved to put her hands into, the cute geeky smile he always had when he looked at her, his brown eyes that hold more emotion than she had before she met him, and the subtle lips that were always complimenting her, always wanting to touch her, always joking to relieve the situation, always there for her. She cries a little as she thinks about him. She almost wants to die because he is gone.

Chuck follows the man as he leads Chuck straight to where Casey, Sarah, and Morgan are being held. The man steps inside and Chuck slyly sticks his foot in front of the door before it shuts. The man doesn't hear anything and starts talking to Sarah, Casey, and Morgan.

"Well, now that we got that out of the way, I can kill you all," the man says evilly. Chuck slowly sneaks through the door and shuts it quietly. "So who wants to die first?" The man asks. Chuck silently sneaks closer. Sarah sees Chuck and immediately smiles. She looks at the man with a huge grin on her face. "Well it looks like you want to be first then," the man looks at Sarah and thinks she is smiling because she wants to be killed first. Chuck quickly flashes and now knows how to take a person out from behind. Chuck kicks him on the back of the knee. The man, unsuspecting, falls to his knees and Chuck grabs him by the neck and puts him in a choke hold. Casey and Morgan finally notice and watch in awe as Chuck takes him out.

"Kill that son of a bitch," Morgan cheers Chuck on. Chuck is squeezing the man's neck, causing the man to choke. The man's larynx is completely pinched and the man cannot breather in or out. He is gasping for air but his larynx is totally shut and the man slowly stops resisting.

"Don't kill him Chuck!" Sarah pleads in desperation.

"Why not? He shot me and he was going to kill all of you. He was going to kill you, Sarah!" Chuck responds furiously.

"Because that is not who you are!" Sarah tries to calm Chuck down. Chuck realizes that he isn't a killer and lets the man go. The man falls to the ground gasping for air as it suddenly starts filling his lungs. Chuck quickly gets Sarah out of the restraints and helps her down. She kisses him on the lips viciously because she thought he was dead and she was never going to see her again.

"I knew you survived! I just knew it!" Sarah says exuberantly. She hugs Chuck and doesn't want to let go.

"You're, you're choking me," Chuck coughs out. Sarah lets up a little so Chuck can breathe. She is still hugging him and kisses him on the lips again. She doesn't ever want to let her lips disconnect.

"A little help, lovebirds?" Casey asks, disgusted by their PDA (public display of affection). Chuck then goes to help Morgan as Sarah helps Casey.

"Are you ok?" Sarah asks Chuck concerned for his bullet wound.

"Yea, I'm fine. Apparently I can flash on a coping method for pain," Chuck says optimistically and surprised. Casey grunts in jealousy. Casey realizes how much easier it would be to just all of a sudden stop feeling the pain than having to think of other things to cope.

"That's my Chuck!" Morgan throws in their happily as he jumps on Chuck in joy.

"Ok, ok, buddy. Enough," Chuck tells Morgan friendly. Morgan immediately gets off Chuck.

"Let me see the wound," Sarah is still concerned for Chuck. She examines the bullet wound and sees that the bullet went through. "Looks like a through and through and it didn't hit any arteries," she says surprised. Chuck raises his shoulders not sure how to react.

"You're a lucky one, Bartowski," Casey says.

"You should be fine other than the pain, which you seem to cope with just fine," Sarah says happily knowing Chuck is alright. She then looks to the man slowly recovering from Chuck's choke hold. "Now time to fulfill my promise," Sarah says deviously.

"You're going to kill him?" Chuck asks. "You just told me not to."

"That is because you're not a killer. I am," Sarah says with a cold, villainous voice.

"No, Sarah. You aren't going to kill him. It is unnecessary," Chuck orders Sarah. She accepts his order.

"What are we going to do with this guy?" Casey asks.

"Well, that is simple really. We'll ask him where my mother is," Chuck explains frivolously. Casey grabs the man by his shirt and picks him up.

"Where is she?" Casey threatens.

"I'm not talking," the man barely lets out as he is still having trouble breathing.

"We'll see about that," Sarah says deviously. "Hang him on the wall." Casey locks the restraints and the man is now chained to the wall hanging.

"Will you tell us now, please?" Chuck asks nicely.

"Nope. Never!" The man holds his ground.

"Ugh, really? You can't just be nice for once in your life?" Chuck asks rhetorically. Casey immediately punches him in the stomach. The man groans in pain.

"Everybody talks," Casey states as he smirks at the man. Casey throws another punch into the man's stomach causing the man to cry in pain.

"Ok, ok. I'll tell you. Just stop, please," the man pleads knowing he is just going to be put in more pain if he resists.

"Thank you. Now would you be so kind as to tell us?" Chuck asks nicely and proper.

"She is in room 17. Please don't kill me," the man answers in pain.

"Thank you my kind sir," Chuck responds jokingly as Casey just grunts in annoyance. They leave the room as the man is still hanging. Chuck gives Casey one gun and Sarah the other from those two guards he took out after the gun shot. They both thank him and they run through the hallway looking for room 17. They finally find it and stop in front of it.

"This is it," Sarah states.

"Yes it is, let's go in," Chuck responds ready. They open the door and they see what looks like a miniature Intersect room. The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered with screens. They all look in amazement.

"This has to be it," Chuck states confidently. One side isn't filled with screens and there is a door. Chuck breathes in deeply as he opens the door. Chuck peeks his head around and sees a woman working at a desk. After they all funnel in quietly, Sarah and Casey aim their guns at her just in case.

"Mom?" Chuck asks not sure what to expect.

"Son?" The woman quickly stops what she is doing and turns around to face them. She is unarmed so Casey and Sarah lower their guns.

"Mom," Chuck says relieved to see her again. She looks like an exact replica of Ellie except older. She has the same brown hair, the same cheek structure, and the same lips. She has a similar nose to Chuck and the same eyes. She quickly gets up to hug Chuck as Chuck opens his arms waiting.

"Son," she exclaims as she walks towards Chuck. Everyone stands in awe that Chuck's mother was still alive after all these years.

BOOM.

A gun shot goes off and Chuck's mom falls to the ground. The shot wakes Sarah from the daze and she looks back to see an assassin running out the door. She and Casey chase after this assassin. Chuck watches in shock as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski gets cut down the same way as his father.

"Noo!" Chuck hollers to the sky as he quickly gets on his knees to comfort his mother.

"I'm sorry son," She struggles to say as she is in an immense amount of pain and on the brink of death.

"Not again. This cannot happen again!" Chuck screams in desperation.

"Son, Charles, Chuck, I have loved you from the second you were born," she lets out as tears are running down her face.

"I know, I have always loved you too," Chuck responds in emotional pain.

"I just wanted to meet my children one last time," she coughs out as blood trickles down her mouth.

"I know. I am here though. Please don't die," Chuck cries out.

"G-goodbye son, I love you," she whispers as she closes her eyes and stops struggling against death.

"No! You can't give up! Not now!" Chuck orders her in a tearful rage. "You have to fight it. Don't give up!" Chuck shakes her almost lifeless body.

"I-I'm s-sor-sorry I couldn't s-say goodby-bye to Ellie," she studders in pain.

"Please fight it. It is not too late," Chuck pleads.

"I don't think I am going to make it," she lets Chuck know.

"No! If I can survive a gun shot, you can!" Chuck's sadness turns to anger. "You will not die on me!"

"I will try, for the sake of Ellie and you," she tries her best to survive. Sarah walks into the room out of breathe.

"Casey is chasing the assassin. How is she?" Sarah asks concerned for Chuck's wellbeing.

"Not good," Chuck sorrowfully responds. Sarah gets down and takes a closer look at the wound. It is a gunshot in the stomach. The bullet is lodged inside Mary. "Can you do anything about it?" Chuck asks Sarah desperately.

"Just put pressure on the wound," Sarah gives her minimal medical advice. "We need to get her to a hospital right now."

"How? We are in the middle of the desert in an underground base," Chuck explains petrified that his mother is about to die in his arms just like his father did.

"Th-there is a medical st-station here," Mary says in pain.

"Where is it?" Sarah and Chuck ask in unison.

"It is in r-room 4," Mary says barely able to keep her eyes open and mouth moving.

"Stay with me!" Sarah tries to keep Mary awake. "Hold on, we'll be there in a second!" Chuck, Sarah, and Morgan lift Mary's limp body up carefully and carry her through the hallway to room 4. Sarah opens the door and sees all the medical supplies and a stretcher that is raised.

"Put her here!" Sarah quickly commands Chuck and Morgan. They lightly lay her on the stretcher and look at each other in confusion of what to do. None of them know how to take out a bullet and attend to a bullet wound successfully.

"What do we do now?" Morgan asks scared for Mary and Chuck. Chuck and Sarah look around not sure what to do. Chuck's eyes scan the room without a purpose and looks upon a scalpel and immediately flashes. He sees images of medical tools used to extract a bullet and how to stitch up the wound. Chuck grabs all the tools he needs and lays them on a medical table. He quickly goes to work as Morgan and Sarah watch in amazement. Chuck undoes his belt and puts it in his mom's mouth for her to bite down on. He puts on some gloves and sticks his fingers in cautiously looking for the bullet. After he feels it, he takes his fingers out and grabs the tweezers and digs in for the bullet. Mary is biting down in immense pain but is trying to fight death. Chuck pulls the bullet out with the tweezers and drops it on the table. Sarah and Morgan watch in awe as the bullet drops on the table and makes a clink noise. Chuck quickly grabs some towels and wipes up the blood. When there is no more blood, he quickly grabs a needle to start sowing. Sweat forms on Chuck's forehead and Sarah sees it. She grabs a clean towel and starts dabbing Chuck's forehead and cheeks making sure there isn't any perspiration left. Chuck doesn't even notice Sarah dabbing his face because he is so focused on stitching. He finishes stitching and grabs the gauze. He puts some padding over the stitches and starts wrapping her stomach tightly. After a few layers, Chuck rips the piece from the spindle and clips it onto the other part of gauze. Sarah looks at Chuck in a fiery love because he is so amazing as Morgan is still too astonished to move. Mary relaxes as she is no longer in the immediate danger of dying. Sarah hugs Chuck and kisses him on the cheek with a 'you're amazing' kiss.

"That was the coolest thing ever!" Morgan exclaims finally awakening from his paralysis.

"Thanks buddy," Chuck finally speaks again in exhaustion. Not just tired exhaustion but accomplished exhaustion. Sarah walks to the corner of the room and calls Casey to tell him that she will make it and that they are in room 4. Sarah turns back to Chuck and heads toward him. "What happened to that assassin?" Chuck asks Sarah.

"Casey got him," Sarah responds happily.

"Is he still alive?"

"No, Casey shot him in the back and he died quickly after," Sarah expresses her sorrow that they didn't get to find anything about him.

"It is fine. I have my mother and that is all that matters." Chuck expresses his gratitude for Sarah and Casey's quick reaction.

"We cannot just wait here forever. We are in an enemy base," Sarah suggests they move soon.

"Yea, you're right but I don't know if she is in condition to move around," Chuck responds. Casey walks into the room curious to know how Mary was able to survive. Sarah and Chuck give Casey a look like they are expecting him to do something for them. Casey doesn't know what they want at first but puts the connection together. He grunts and rolls his eyes knowing he has to accept.

"Thank you Casey," Chuck says without even having to tell Casey what to do.

"I have to carry her, don't I?" Casey asks almost rhetorically because he knows the answer.

"Yes," Sarah responds in a comical way. She thinks it is funny how Casey always has to do the 'heavy lifting.' Casey gently lifts Mary and puts her on his shoulder. Chuck puts his belt back on even though there is a bite mark that is a few millimeters deep. They walk through the hallway carefully as to not gain any unwanted attention. They find the way out and get outside. They emerge as if they haven't seen sunlight in years. They squint their eyes and put their hands over there eyebrows to be able to see.

"It feels so good to see land again," Morgan sighs in relief.

"Yes it is, yes it is," Chuck agrees with Morgan. Chuck looks like a fallout shelter survivor with his shirt a torn and ragged and a ragged cloth wrapped around his shoulder. Sarah slowly comes out as if she has accomplished the impossible. She is happy with herself. Casey comes out with Mary on his shoulders and in a bit of a struggle. He just wants to get the body off his shoulders already. They walk towards the sunset in slow motion.

THE END

.

..

…or is it?

They finally get to the rental car and get in. They drive to a hospital and get Mary and Chuck checked. They flash there CIA badges that lets the hospital know they don't need to file a police report or anything like that. After a few hours of Casey, Sarah, and Morgan waiting in anticipation, the doctor comes out.

"Are you the family of a one," he says dreadfully as he looks at the clipboard for the name, "Charles Bartowski?" Sarah quickly responds yes and Morgan says yes too. The doctor looks at Morgan and thinks there is no way they are actually related and only allows Sarah to come. The doctor explains everything to Sarah on the way to Chuck's room.

So, how is he, Doc?" Sarah asks eagerly.

"He will make a full recovery. Looks like the bullet missed all organs and arteries," the doctor explains.

"Oh, thank god," Sarah exclaims. She is so happy she almost hugs the doctor. They arrive at the door.

"You can go in. I think he is awake. He was asking for Sarah—"

"That's me," Sarah interrupts the doctor.

"Go on in," the doctor guides her safely. She steps into the room and Chuck is lying on the bed with bandages wrapped around his shoulder.

"Watsup, watsup?" Chuck asks optimistically and comically. Sarah just melts into his arms when she hears his upbeat spirit show itself again. Chuck looks at her beautiful sapphire eyes as they water up in joy. Her sweet, pink lips slowly close the gap between Chuck's lips. As her lips touch Chuck's, they burst in fiery passion and make out fiercely. It feels like they haven't kissed in years. Chuck runs his hand through her silky, soft blonde hair and wraps his arms around her waist. Sarah climbs on top of him and they continue to make out. After both their mouths are tired, Sarah just lies on top of him in satisfaction.

"My mom?" Chuck gasps as he remembers she was there and got shot. Sarah's oceanic eyes look at his.

"They haven't said anything yet."

"We need to see if she is alright." Sarah climbs off of Chuck and he quickly gets out of the bed.

"I don't think you should be walking around," Sarah shows her concern for Chuck.

"If I can take a bullet out with a gun shot wound, I think I can handle walking," Chuck explains jovially. Just as Chuck says this, he stumbles and almost falls to the ground. He catches himself on the wall. "Just a little stiff, that's all."

"Sure," Sarah laughs. She helps Chuck walk by guiding him and staying at his side with her arm wrapped around his. They get to the receptionist.

"Shouldn't you be in your room?" The receptionist asks coldly.

"I need to know how the patient Mary Elizabeth Bartowski is doing," Chuck explains.

"Are you a relative?"

"Yes, I am her son," Chuck explains annoyed. He just wants to see if his mother is ok.

"Room 123B. Five doors on the left," the receptionist answers Chuck.

"Thank you," Chuck says as he heads towards the room. He pulls Sarah as she didn't expect the quickness of Chuck.

"Thank you," Sarah tells the receptionist as she tries to stay with Chuck so he doesn't fall. They arrive at the door and Chuck and Sarah look at each other in wonder. They nod to each other and Chuck opens the door and they walk in together.

"Did you bring me another pan?" An old man groans while in the bed in the room. "I need to pee!"

"Wrong room," Chuck quickly says as they both back out.

"Hey! Where you going?" The old man groans some more. Chuck and Sarah escape the room and after the door shuts, they both start giggling. Sarah looks up above the room to see what room number it was and it says 123A.

"Next door, smart one," Sarah jokes.

"Hey, you can't make fun of me. I am crippled," Chuck responds jovially.

"Fair enough." They go to the next door and look up. It says 123B. Chuck exhales heavily. They look at each other and prepare themselves.

"Can I help you?" A doctor asks them.

"No, we're fine," Chuck is starting to get annoyed.

"Shouldn't you be in your room?"

"Yea, I know. I am checking on my mother."

"Alright, I hope she is doing well." The doctor sincerely leaves.

"Finally, no more distractions," Chuck says ticked off. Sarah just chuckles. Chuck looks at her and she quickly clears the grin off her face and they look at the door. Chuck swallows loudly and turns the door handle. The door opens to a poorly lit room.