Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench

Well, here's what happened in the previous chapter: Chuck and Sarah were summoned to court to testify against the woman who stalked and nearly killed him, Lizzie. Beforehand Hartley and Vivian introduced the nerdy couple to the prosecuting attorney that was taking over the case after stepping down from it because of personal bias. The prosecuting attorney in question was Justin Sullivan who was personally hand-picked by Hartley to take over. He was also Hartley's protege. Moving forward, the case against Lizzie was solid. So solid in fact, that when Sarah was called to the witness stand to testify Lizzie attacked Sarah. Sarah was taken back to Westside Medical for a thorough check up and despite her refusal Beckman ordered it. Meanwhile a private conversation took place between Chuck, Hartley, and Vivian about breaking up with Sarah to protect her. Hartley and Vivian encouraged him to rethink his decision. So, what happens in this chapter? Here are the who, what, where, when, why, how's? Who does Chuck compare Lizzie as it related to him not being able to get any sleep? What movie does Dr. Dreyfus use an example in order to get to the underlying issue with his patient? When did Dr. Dreyfus figure out the actual underlying issue? Where was the meeting point Conway agreed to meet with Chuck? Why was there tension between Conway and Bentley? How did Conway react when Chuck asked for a particular favor in return? Read and find out! I hope you enjoyed the read and leave a comment to share your own thoughts on this particular chapters. As always, reviews are awesome.

Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment, I truly appreciate it. Please continue to do so as it gives me the incentive to write more chapters.

I don't own Chuck.

Saving Sarah

XXX

Dr. Leo Dreyfus' Office
2 Days Later
Post Courtroom Attack on Sarah

"Thanks for taking the time to see, Doc," Chuck expressed. There was heaviness to the sound in his voice and the deep contemplative expression on his face that he didn't even try to hide. He knew if he did, Dr. Dreyfus would call him out on it. So, did his best to mask it by expressing his trademark toothy smile knowing how fake it actually was.

Speaking of Dr. Drefus, Chuck watched as his therapist took a moment to get situated after he sat down. Instead of sitting down on his usual spot on the couch across from him, the youngest Bartowski sibling was sitting down in front of his therapist's desk. There was a moment of awkwardness where the both of them looked at the couch, which led to an awkward silence. Fortunately, the good doctor was able to quickly work it and avoid making the situation even more awkward than it already was. After taking a few seconds to adjust his glasses, he briefly jotted down a few notes. When he was done, he lifted his head and focused his attention on Chuck who was sitting in his wheelchair just a few feet in front of the seasoned therapist.

"It's not a problem, Chuck," responded Dreyfus, expressing a welcoming smile. "Truth be told, I was actually expecting you to show up so we could talk," he confessed.

Chuck arched his right brow."You were?"

Dreyfus nodded. Afterwards, he leaned forward a bit and resumed speaking. "How are you doing? I know the past few months have been incredibly difficult for you." he added, shaking his head.

"It hasn't been awesome, that's for sure. It all seemed like a nightmare actually and Lizzie has been my own personal Freddy Kreuger." responded Chuck. Afterwards, he lifted his right hand. "Gloved knives included." the nerd added, flexing his right hand.

After Dr. Dreyfus heard what Chuck shared, he leaned forward a bit. "I take it haven't been sleeping well?"

"It's been rough, " the nerd answered. "Thankfully, I didn't die horribly like Johnny Depp's character in the first movie. Died sleeping and pulled down the hole in the middle of his bed by Freddy. Afterwards, massive amounts of blood just," Chuck briefly paused, looked up and was animated with hands as he was talking about the blood scene. "Shoot out and up out from the hole towards the ceiling." she recalled, concerning that particular scene in the movie. "It was one of the scariest, bloodiest, and most memorable scenes in the first movie that started the franchise."

There was a brief moment of silence as Dr. Dreyfus jotted down something in his notepad before he returned his focus back to his patient. After he took a moment to moment to adjust how was seated in a chair he normally doesn't sit in, he spoke up.

"At least your memory recall and imagination is not strong," he mused. A few seconds later, he focused on his health and well-being. "And physically? How are you feeling?"

The youngest Bartowski sibling's upbeat attitude slowly faded after he heard Dr. Dreyfus' question. After a few seconds of sitting across from Although I can't walk right now, I'm happy to be alive." the nerd answered. After a brief moment of silence, Chuck resumed speaking. "I've woken up in a cold sweat and screaming. Scared the shit out of Sarah." he revealed, shaking his head.

In response, Dr. Dreyfus firmly nodded. "Speaking of Sarah," He paused for a moment before he spoke up again. "I saw that she isn't with you."

"Yeah," Chuck paused for a moment before he continued speaking. "My best friend Morgan drove me here.

"Does Sarah know you're here?" inquired Dr. Dreyfus, expressing curiosity.

At that point, Chuck had two choices to make in how he answered Dr. Dreyfus's question as he was sitting in front of him. On one hand he could choose to answer no and give a seemingly plausible reason as to why he didn't tell the love of his life that he was going to see his therapist. Essentially, by doing that he was breaking the promise made between the two of them of not keeping any secrets or lying to each other. As for the other choice, he would just be straight up honest and truthful by revealing the real reason as to why he actually came to see him. It was a reason that he was going mentally, as well as emotionally back and forth about the seriousness of it knowing it was involving Sarah herself. Ultimately, the nerd made his choice.

Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "Sort of."

After Chuck shared that, Dr. Dreyfus' eyebrows furrowed. "I see," There was a momentary pause before the highly skilled therapist continued speaking with his patient. "It seems there's something on your mind, Chuck?"

After Dr. Dreyfus asked that question, Chuck expressed a soft chuckle in response. "It's that obvious, Doc?"

Dr. Dreyfus responded with a soft chuckle of his own. "It wasn't that hard to notice. You practically entered my office speaking volumes." he retorted. "Is this about the Freddy Kreuger type nightmares you've been having about Lizzie?"

"Yes," answered Chuck. "And no," he added, in a questioning manner.

Afterwards, Chuck noticed the quizzical expression on Dr. Dreyfus' face after he responded the way he did to the skilled psychologist. In the nerd's mind, he didn't want to hide anything from the man who was sitting across from him. Why? One reason was that they got to know each other to the point where the highly trained mental physician's ability to read him like a book was absolutely unmeasured, especially for the amount of time they've spent together as therapist and patient. Speaking of Dr. Dreyfus, he removed his glasses and leaned forward furrowing his somewhat bushy eyebrows towards his patient.

"What aren't you telling me, Chuck?"

XXX

Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present

"You told him about wanting to protect Sarah with a gun." Bentley uttered, looking directly at Chuck.

Chuck didn't respond right away. Why? The reason he didn't was because it involved a private discussion between him and his therapist. So, he responded with a slight tilt of his head and a shrug of his shoulders.

"I see," responded Bentley. She was momentarily silent before she pressed forward, returning her attention back to Chuck. "What else did you talk about?"

At that moment, Sarah interjected on behalf of her husband. "As an award winning journalist you should know that the conversations between a doctor and a patient are strictly private." she firmly conveyed.

In response, Bentley shrugged her shoulders. "I took a shot." A faint grin was expressed afterwards. Her attention on Sarah subsequently returned to Chuck. "Is there anything that you can share that isn't considered private?"

Chuck sat in his seat and contemplated Bentley's question for a brief moment before he answered her question. A few seconds later the nerdy business owner cracked a small grin. "We did talk about the movies."

Bentley arched her right brow and expressed a bit of confusion. It seemed odd to the award-winning documentarian that Chuck was talking about movies with Dr. Dreyfus instead of serious issues that involved his mental and emotional physical health., she thought to herself. However, it was Chuck after all and she considered him a very unique individual. A very unique individual who has a way of becoming friends with practically everybody he comes in contact with. In any case, Bentley shook those thoughts from her head and decided to see where it would end up leading to.

"What movies?"

"Actually," responded Chuck. "It was just one movie in particular." the nerd added, raising his right index finger.

After Chuck said that, he noticed that Bentley nearly rolled her eyes in response. Speaking of Bentley, she responded back to the now married man who was sitting across from her.

"Fine," Bentley briefly shook her head. "What movie?"

XXX

Dr. Leo Dreyfus' Office

Patient: Chuck Bartowski

For the past 30 minutes, Dr. Dreyfus listened as Chuck shared what was weighing on his heart and mind ever. Of course, the seasoned therapist's nerdy patient started off normally calm but as Chuck continued to share his thoughts he became noticeably erratic. In Dreyfus' mind, the man sitting across from him didn't just walk through his office door. No. Instead, his patient practically kicked the door down, sat down, made himself at home and emotionally spilled his guts. Fortunately, he was able to calm the young man down and have him do a couple breathing exercises before they resumed their session together. There were a few moments of shared silence in the office between both men before Dr. Dreyfus spoke up.

"That was a lot to digest there, Chuck. First off, " Dr. Dreyfus sat there a moment letting all that was shared with him by Chuck to sink. After shaking his head, he refocused his attention back to his patient. "You mentioned that you were thinking about getting a gun but didn't really elaborate any further about that. How you discussed it with Hartley and Vivian who tried to dissuade you from doing it."

"Oh, right," answered Chuck. "I did lay it out there and left it as a cliffhanger of sorts." he added, shrugging his shoulders.

"Indeed," grinned Dr. Dreyfus. "Interesting way to put it."

I've actually never owned a gun but I have held one before. A real one." he firmly noted. "John Casey's gun actually. It was at the firing range. I believe you know him. At least that's what Sarah told me."

"We're acquainted," Dreyfus nodded, with acknowledgment. Although he didn't confirm or deny that Casey was a patient, he did in fact acknowledge that they know each other. In any case, he set that particular thought aside and refocused the attention back on the topic at hand. "How did it feel?" questioned the seasoned therapist.

"Different," responded Chuck.

Dreyfus slightly tilted his head after his question was answered by his patient. "In what way?"

"For one," Chuck briefly paused before he resumed speaking. "It feels heavier. It's not like the Zapper light gun for the NES. That felt lighter."

At that point, Dreyfus expressed a quizzical look on his face. "NES?"

"Nintendo Entertainment System." stated Chuck.

Afterwards, he flashed his trademark toothy smile and proceeded with a sense of excitement. He shared his memories of playing Duck Hunt with Morgan. The frustration of not being able to hit the ducks and that caused the dog to appear and laugh right because the shooter in question missed. As much as Dr. Dreyfus wanted to let Chuck continue on, he knew they were pressed for time when it came to the remainder of his patient's session.

"I'm glad you shared a cherished childhood memory that happened in your past,"

Chuck instantly chimed in. "It happened last week."

There was a bit of momentary silence on Dr. Dreyfus' part after he heard that. Instead of continuing on the conversation about the video game, he put the focus on where it needed to be.

"Let's set the video game talk for late and circle back to you wanting to protect Sarah, Chuck."

The youngest Bartowski sibling nodded. After he did, he took a deep breath before he resumed speaking. "I just want Sarah to be safe. I don't want her ever to be attacked again."

"I saw what happened to her on the news. Very frightening and disturbing to say the least." retorted Dreyfus, shaking his head in disbelief. "She was shaken for a bit but overall in good health after a thorough check up. Granted, she wasn't a cooperative patient according to what Chief Beckman said." he further added, recalling what Beckman shared with him.

Chuck nodded and expressed a proud smile. "That's what I love about Sarah. As much as everyone was concerned about her, she wanted it to be as business as usual. Not to have the spotlight all on her." he recalled.

Dr. Dreyfus sat there silently for a moment and took in what Chuck shared. A few seconds later, he leaned forward and spoke up. "I have a question for you, Chuck."

"Shoot, Doc?"

"What's your true purpose in saving Sarah? What are you trying to protect?"

After he heard that, Chuck arched his right brow. "Protect? I don't understand what you're asking, Doc?"

In that instance, Dr. Dreyfus paused and took a moment to find a way to help his patient get a better understanding of the actual underlying issue. For the highly skilled psychologist, he knew he had to relate to him in some way and since he had gotten to know his patient the one thing that completely stood out to him was his seemingly endless knowledge of pop culture. So, he used that to his full advantage.

"Have you ever seen the movie The Bodyguard, Chuck?"

The question caught the nerd off guard to the point where Chuck expressed bewildered confusion on his face. "The movie that starred Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston?" responded Chuck, in a questioning manner.

Dreyfus nodded. There was momentary silence between the two men. Mostly from Chuck because he continued sitting across from his therapist with the same expression of bewildered confusion on his face. Although it was a look of bewildered confusion, he knew about the hit movie of the early 90's. A few seconds later, Chuck shook the bewildered expression off his face and resumed speaking.

"Why…ummm," Chuck paused because he had no earthly idea why Dr. Dreyfus wanted to know if he's ever seen one of Kevin Costner's best movies. Yet, it was the same question about the movie that was considered to be highly intriguing for the youngest Bartowski sibling. "Why do you ask?"

"I took my wife to see it. One of the most memorable scenes was the sword-scarf scene between Costner and Whitney Houston's character." Dreyfus shared.

It took a few seconds before Chuck's eyes widened recalling the scene that Dr. Dreyfus mentioned. "I do remember that scene," he answered, cracking a faint grin. "It was such a powerful blend of tenderness and passionate tension. Costner leaned forward and stood up while Houston was holding the sword with the tip of it against the man's chest." Chuck recalled, blowing out a breath in disbelief. "The movie showed not only the absolute perfect chemistry Costner and Houston had, but there was real heat-passion between the both of them. What made the scene even more perfect was Costner's character reaching over and taking her scarf…"

At that point, Dr. Dreyfus chimed in. "He took her scarf and tossed it in the air. It was sliced by the same sword Houston's character was holding."

"Again," uttered Chuck, shaking his head. "A perfect scene without any dialogue as two people's eyes and body language speaking volumes." the nerd added.

Afterwards, there was another brief moment of silence shared between the two men before Dr. Dreyfus broke it when he posed a question to his patient.

"Speaking of perfect," Dr. Dreyfus took a moment and readjusted the way he was sitting in his chair before he continued. "Just like that scene, do you believe Sarah is perfect? How about the relationship you have with her?"

Chuck let that question sink in before he answered. After thinking about it for a moment, he responded.

"To me she's perfect," Chuck once again expressed his trademark toothy smile. "But I know she's not. She's told me she's a constant work in progress. As for our relationship being perfect," He stopped and shook his head. "It's far from perfect. Awesome, yes. Perfect? Not by a long shot." he further described. "We've both seen each other at our worst and at our best. In a way, we helped each other step out into the light after finding ourselves lost in the darkness." The nerdy business owner let out a soft sigh and proceeded on. "I've never told Sarah this, but I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to her knowing I will spend a lifetime paying it off."

The honesty in which Chuck described his relationship with Sarah as far from being perfect was information that Dr. Dreyfus jotted down in his notebook. After he finished scribbling down a few notes as a reminder for himself to look back on later, he lifted his head and directed his attention to his patient.

"That debt of gratitude you owe Sarah," Dr. Dreyfus focused on the last thing his patient shared with him. "Is it the reason why you've been so determined in wanting Sarah safe. Saving her from any kind of danger?"

"It might be," Chuck retorted. He was sitting there silent once again. A few seconds later the nerd shook his head. "I just don't want her to end up like me."

At that point, Dr. Dreyfus leaned forward. "You mean end up in a wheelchair, right? That's your greatest fear, isn't it? The times you've been waking up from a cold sweat. Those nightmares you've been having were actually about Sarah."

Instead of giving a verbal response, Chuck simply nodded.

XXX

Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present

"You should have told me about those nightmares." Sarah softly uttered. The sound of disbelief and concern expressed in her voice.

Chuck lowered his head out of embarrassment. "I didn't want to become an even greater burden on you than I already was." he responded, shaking his head.

There was a moment of silence between the nerdy couple before Sarah reached over and lifted her husband's head by right index finger. "Look at me, Chuck." The beautiful blond didn't have to wait long as her nerdy other half locked eyes with her. "You were never a burden on me during those several months. For better or for worse, remember?"

"I remember," Chuck faintly breathed out.

"Yes, there were challenges but we both preserved through it. Together." she pointed out. Afterwards, she raised her hand showing her left hand with her sparkling wedding clearly in view. "This ring proves it." she breathed out, expressing a proud smile.

A smile was expressed by Chuck, especially when Sarah gently stroked the side of his cheek. Afterwards, Mrs. Bartowski resumed speaking. "It almost makes me forget that you hid the fact that you had a gun in the house."

After Sarah mentioned that she and her husband were suddenly interrupted. "Hold on!"

The newly married nerdy couple turned their attention to the source of the individual who interrupted their heartfelt moment they were having together. It was Bentley. Her attention was directly focused on Chuck.

"I thought you said you didn't buy a gun?"

After briefly glancing over at his wife sitting next to him, Chuck slowly turned and faced Bentley.

"I didn't," responded Chuck. "It was given to me," he revealed.

"By whom?" questioned Bentley, with immense curiosity.

The interview with Chuck and Sarah would quickly change to the interview Bentley conducted with the individual responsible who supplied him with the weapon.

"Please introduce yourself for our viewers at home."

"Conway," he answered. "Private Investigator. Longshore Investigations." he further shared.

XXX

Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present

"Mr. Conway," Bentley briefly glanced down at her notes before she continued interviewing him. "If I may ask, what's your first name?"

"Just call me Conway." he firmly insisted.

"Fine. Conway it is." Bentley paused and then resumed speaking. "How do you know Chuck Bartowski?"

"I was contacted by a mutual acquaintance of ours and I did a job as a favor for him." answered Conway.

"May I ask who the mutual acquaintance is?" inquired Bentley.

"I'd rather not say, ma'am," he replied back. "I'd breach my own ethical code of strict confidentiality." he firmly stated.

"I see. I assume being a private investigator your job is all about protecting your client's anonymity?" retorted Bentley. After a brief moment of silence, the award-winning documentarian resumed speaking. "Has there…"

At that point, Conway cut her off. "Ma'am, I agreed to be here to only talk about a particular subject matter involving Chuck Bartowski. Not what I do or have done as a private investigator. If that's the case, I'm leaving." he stated. Afterwards, he stood up and reached up to remove his mic.

Bentley immediately stood up and stopped him. "My apologies, Mr. Conway. Please," She motioned to the chair he was sitting on behind him. "Please sit down and we'll talk about what was mutually agreed upon."

Conway stood there for a second as if he was considering his options to either leave or stay. A few seconds went by before he sat back down to be interviewed. When he did, Bentley breathed out a sense of relief. Afterwards, she sat back down in her chair and proceeded with the interview.

"I appreciate you staying, Mr. Conway," responded Bentley. "And I assure you I won't waste any more of your time. So, please share with me what took place in which you met up with Chuck."

After Conway silently stared at Bentley for a brief moment, he spoke up. "After being contacted, we met up at a designated location where we previously did business before. It was late at night and…"

Santa Monica Beach
Parking Lot
11:30pm

Conway parked in the Santa Monica Beach parking lot. It wasn't full since it was late at night. There were only a few cars that were parked there. A total of 10 to be exact. He assumed one of them was Chuck Bartowski. That or he hadn't arrived yet. After getting out of the car, he slowly traversed across the parking lot. His heightened state of awareness was always on because of the dangerous and unpredictable line of work he was in. In any case, as he continued walking forward a pair of headlights flashed. The private investigator stood there for a moment and wanted to see if the flashing headlights were just that or actually to signal him. It wasn't long before Conway got his answer. Those same headlights that flashed before flashed again, which meant that Chuck did arrive before him. It wasn't long before he arrived at the vehicle in question. Afterwards, the back passenger side door opened. When it did, there wasn't any hesitation on his part as he jumped inside, took a seat and closed the back passenger side door. The next thing he knows, he was face to face with not just one person but two people seated in the front. He focused his attention on the person who was sitting in the driver's seat first.

"Mr. Grimes." acknowledged Conway.

"You know who I am?" Morgan responded, sounding shocked and surprised.

"It's my job to know who you are and everyone that has ever associated with Chuck Bartowski." answered Conway.

"Prove it."

At that point, Chuck was about to intervene when Conway instantly responded.

"You took Ellie Bartowski's pillow as your date to junior prom."

After hearing that, Chuck and Morgan's eyes widened. Both men were absolutely shocked and astounded he even knew that information. Mostly Morgan. Speaking of Morgan, he was peppering the private investigator with questions about whether or not he was secretly part of the X-men. Fortunately for Conway, cooler heads prevailed as Chuck reached over and covered his bearded best friend's mouth, which stopped him from talking any further. After repeatedly apologizing to Conway, the nerdy business suddenly pointed his right index finger in front of his face causing Chuck to immediately stop talking. From Chuck's point of view, his point resembled the iconic point of any character that Harrison Ford played from Star Wars to The Fugitive. The nerd's focus on Conway's finger was broken when the private investigator

spoke up.

"First off," he asked. His eyes briefly darted back and forth from Morgan to Chuck. "I've kept tabs on you. Keep at it and listen to that physical therapist of yours, Hannah. Although you're not 100%, you've made some significant progress."

At first, Chuck didn't know what to say. So, he responded with what immediately popped into his head. "Thank you?" he uttered, in a questioning manner.

"Does your fiancé know you're here?"

"She's working a late-night shift right now at the hospital," replied Chuck.

"So that's a no then," Instead of pressing the issue further, Conway slid back and made himself somewhat comfortable in the back of Morgan's vehicle. There was a moment of awkward silence between all three men until the private investigator broke it and spoke up. "Why did you want to meet here and at this time of night?"

Chuck was about to respond when he suddenly realized he still had his right hand covering Morgan's mouth. He quickly removed it and before he turned his attention to Conway he wiped his hand on his best friend's shirt.

"I did you a favor with your son, right?"

"That's right."

"Well," Chuck briefly paused before he spoke up again. "I need a favor in return."

"Name it. No questions asked." he firmly stated.

The expression on Chuck's face after Conway said that was a mix shocked surprise. After a brief moment of silence, the thousand yard stare that the youngest Bartowski sibling was giving finally broke and blurted out the aforementioned favor.

"Gun!"

Afterwards, the car was silent once again after Chuck made his favor known to Conway. Apparently, Morgan didn't know about the favor. Why? From where the private investigator was sitting in the back seat, he saw the bearded man's eyes and they looked as if they were going to pop out of his head. Speaking of the private investigator, he was a man of his word and leaned forward a bit to reach down for something. It wasn't long before Conway produced a firearm and held it up for not only Chuck to see, but Morgan as well.

"38 Special," Conway pushed the side of the chamber of the gun. "Fully loaded," he revealed. Afterwards, he locked the chamber back into place. Once he did, the private investigator made sure and showed how to set the safety. "On and Off." Conway repeated it several times. It wasn't long before the gun was handed over to Chuck with the handle facing towards Chuck.

Speaking of Chuck, he was about to take the gun when Conway uttered one more thing to the nerd. "Try not to accidentally shoot anyone."

Chuck took possession of the gun and acknowledged Conway with a nod towards the man. However, in typical Bartowski clumsy fashion, the gun slipped out of his hand. In a matter of seconds, it turned into what looked like a game of hot potato with Morgan suddenly joining in. From Conway's point of view sitting in the back seat it was a sight of absolute disbelief and absurdity at what he was witnessing. Fortunately, the gun didn't go off as the gun because if it did it would have been a disastrous situation to say the least. After staring at both men for what seemed like forever, Conway exited the back seat of Morgan's vehicle and parted ways with the two men.

Westside Medical Center
Outside Courtyard
Present

"Yeah," Chuck shook his head thinking back on that moment. "In hindsight that was a bad idea, especially after the close call that happened."

"Obviously," Sarah sarcastically responded. "Especially At the cost of our marriage." she further added.

At that point, Bentley chimed in. "What close call?"

XXX


NOTE: SORRY FOR THE DELAY. LIFE HAPPENED. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER! AS ALWAYS LEAVE A REVIEW BECAUSE THEY'RE CONSIDERED AN INCENTIVE TO KEEP WRITERS WRITING. ANY AND ALL ERRORS ARE MY OWN!