A/N: When I saw this prompt, I knew what everyone would think. It's Sarah, she's the one having the nightmares, but that has been done. You know me, I gotta put my own spin on things.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

She walked past the break room, and paused after she was out of sight of the doorway. The IT guy had been sitting there, and he looked rough. He was always cheerful, had a smile on his face, and just being around him made her smile. He looked haggered, like he had little sleep the night before, and just out of sorts. Usually she stayed out of other people's problems, but Chuck…she sighed, turned, and walked back to the break room door.

"You okay?"

His head whipped up, like he was startled. "What? Oh, yeah, fine, fine." He waved his hand like it was nothing. "Didn't sleep well last night. I was gaming late, you know?"

"Oh, with your friend…Martin?" Sarah asked.

"Uh, it's Morgan," Chuck corrected gently.

"Sorry," Sarah said with a wince.

"No worries," Chuck assured her. "No, he's off in Hawaii, trying to become a chef, and has to get his sleep, so I can't wake him." Sarah didn't know Chuck well, but she found something about him bothering her. This part about Morgan, she believed. The part about the video games…she should leave it alone. She really should.

"What game?"

"What?" Chuck asked.

"What game?" she repeated. "If it's that good of a game, maybe I'd like to try it."

"How do you know it's good?" Chuck asked.

"Well, if you'd stay up that late to play a game, knowing that it's going to affect you the next day, it must be good," Sarah told him.

Chuck smiled at her. "Or," he countered. "I could just make poor life choices."

Sarah nodded, grinning. "Fair," she said. There was silence. "Well, I don't want to interrupt your break-"

"Oh, you weren't," Chuck assured her. "It's nice having someone to talk to." He smiled at her, but she felt like he hadn't meant to say that.

"You don't have anyone to talk to?" Sarah asked.

"No, it's not that, it's just…well, Morgan has so much going on," Chuck began. "And my sister Ellie is having to work a lot due to under staffing at the hospital." He shrugged. "I just feel like people have a lot going on, and…I don't want to be a burden, you know?"

"I think people in your life that love you the way those two seem to, wouldn't find you a burden, Chuck," Sarah said. She started to say more when she heard Graham calling her name down the hall. "Hey, gotta go." Chuck, nodded, smiled, and waved at her. "If you need someone to talk to, I can listen."

"I'm good, just being silly," Chuck said.

"Okay, offers still on the table," she told him. "Bye."

"Bye," he replied, and she headed to Graham's office to see what she was needed for.

}o{

That night, she found herself looking at the TV, but thinking about Chuck. She knew where she knew that look that was on his face. It was the look of someone who had no one to tell their problems to. She felt that way forever in high school, and even college. Her parents and their problems, her father and all of his…. She blew out a rough breath. She had met two women who seemed nothing like her, but they became friends. Sarah thought back to that night at two in the morning, sitting on the steps of one of the buildings, on a Friday night, when they became sisters.

She told them everything about her parents, and what she had been through. Everything bottled up inside of her. As she spoke, tears came out of her that she didn't know existed. Pain released that she didn't know she had. Fears and hopelessness that she didn't know was weighing her down came out. Through out the years, they had each been there for the other. No matter what was going on, if one of them called the other, they always answered and made time.

Did Chuck have that right now? She found herself wondering that as she fell asleep.

}o{

The next morning, she walked down to IT, and found Chuck there, looking rougher than the night before. "Okay, Chuck," she said gently. "What's wrong? I know I'm not Morgan, and I'm not Ellie, but you are obviously dealing with something."

Chuck stared at her with haunted eyes. "It's the dumbest thing ever," he said softly. "I'm having the stupidest nightmares, but it's just…I can't sleep without having them."

She pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. "Tell me."

"Okay, but…it's stupid." She gave him a look. "Okay. So, I dream I'm on the starship Enterprise…from Star Trek. Specifically from the TV show Enterprise." She just stared at him. "Told you, it's stupid."

"Go on," she said, placing a hand on his knee, trying to encourage him.

"I'm flying the ship, and the ship is being captained by Jonathan Archer, the Captain of the Enterprise. He keeps telling me to raise shields, but I don't know how. He keeps saying, 'Didn't your father tell you how?' and my father hadn't." He paused for a minute. "I haven't seen my father in years."

"Is he…dead?" Sarah asked.

"No idea," Chuck admitted, with a shrug. "He and my mother both left me and Ellie. It's one reason I don't want to bother her about this stupid dream."

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"I appreciate it, but it's not necessary," he told her. "So, I asked him how to raise the shields and he tells me, 'I'm not your father'." And then we get blown up. I wake up, in a sweat, just….having anxiety attacks, feeling alone. I try and get back to sleep, but I can't, because…I just feel alone, and if I do, I have one of the other two dreams."

"What are they?" Sarah asked.

"A version of the same thing. In one I'm in the Quantum Leap universe and I need to make a leap and I don't know how, and Sam Beckett is yelling at me to leap and we go through the whole my father didn't teach me and I'm not your father thing. In the other dream, I'm in the Terminator universe and Sarah Connor is yelling at me to kill the Terminator, and it's the same thing, except this time with my mother." Sarah just stared at him. "I watch a lot of sci-fi," he admitted.

"Give me your phone," she said gently. "Listen, I don't sleep much so if you have these dreams, call me."

"They are at ridiculous times at night," Chuck argued. She held out her hand, palm up, waiting for the phone, a look on her face that told him, he should give it to her. He handed over the phone and she put in her contact info. "Thank you," he said as she handed it back to him. He sent her a text so she would have his. "I promise, I won't bother you with this, unless it's bad."

"It's no bother, Chuck," she told him. "None at all."

}o{

She turned on the do not disturb on her phone and set it where only one number would come through. She had found the loudest, most annoying ring tone she could find, and assigned it to Chuck's number. She closed her eyes and was instantly asleep. Some time later, she heard the ringtone, pulling her out of sleep. "Hello," she said, silently cursing herself, hearing the sleep in her voice.

"Damn it," he muttered. "I woke you up, I shouldn't have called."

"Nope, I was just watching a movie," she lied. "Another nightmare?"

"Yeah, and…and I just feel so alone, Sarah."

"What can I do?" Sarah asked.

"You've done it," Chuck admitted. "You were there. Thank you."

"Hey, let's talk," Sarah told him. "Don't hang up because you feel guilty about you totally not waking me up." He laughed and it made her smile. She knew she wasn't getting any sleep for a while, but that was okay, in fact, it was better than okay.

}o{

Six months later

She woke, just knowing he was having a nightmare. "Hey, I'm here," she whispered into his ear. His head was on her shoulder, he was holding on to her for all he was worth. "Chuck, I'm here." She felt him relax, never waking up. She smiled, and kissed his curls. "Love you, baby," she said softly. He sighed happily, and she closed her eyes, unable to keep the smile off of her face.

A/N: Listen, I know I say this all the time, but your mind can tell you terrible things. We need you. Stay. If you're having problems, call or dial 988 here in the US. If you're a veteran and call that, press one afterwards, or text 838255. If you are transgender or nonbinary, call 877-565-8860 to talk to someone who is trangender or nonbinary. There's also a number for the National Alliance of Mental Illness at 800-950-NAMI(800-950-6264) Take care of yourself friends. Love you. See you soon.