A/N: Gotta good fire going, sit down a spell, and let me tell you a little more about those two we call Charah.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

She came outside, her hair still damp. The bath had helped. She was clean, she was calm…

She was lying.

She was the furthest thing from calm. She loved Bryce – she did – but Bryce… Bryce was Bryce, and staying faithful… it wasn't in his nature. In the beginning, it had been amazing between them. When he asked her father for her hand, Sarah had been overjoyed to finally be wanted by someone, truly wanted. And, she thought, loved.

Jack had disappeared days later. When Sarah asked Bryce how much money he had given Jack, he hadn't answered. But the look on his face told her all she needed to know.

Sarah knew how to shoot. But Bryce taught her things he had learned from his childhood friend, Charles, or Chuck, as Bryce like to call him. Things were perfect… and then they weren't.

Bryce wasn't a farmer, and he had begun to take odd jobs to pay for things. Their home… it was bigger than they needed, and more extravagant than they could really afford. They had tried to have kids. Sarah had pushed for it, thinking if they could, maybe… maybe he would grow up and become the man she thought he could be.

They had tried, and they had failed. Bryce had grown frustrated, and said it was her fault. That had hurt, deeply. Things had grown cold between them with those comments, and Sarah assumed that's where his philandering began.

What she found ironic was while most nights they did not share the same bed, the night of his death found him in bed with her… him on his side, but in the same bed as her.

She had heard him talking about Chuck possibly coming to visit, but she didn't know how true that was. The way he talked about Chuck… it was a sad tale. Of how he'd lost his wife, even though he had gone to great lengths to save her. Bryce made him sound, lonely… desperate.

That had not been the man she met, which confused her. Bryce had told her that he was a bounty hunter. She couldn't believe that the man that didn't use a regular gun, but that… hand-held bow contraption, was a bounty hunter.

It didn't matter. Right now, he was willing to help her. And if she could get any money to get away… and that's when she realized she could never live here again.

She couldn't sleep where Bryce was killed. Again, there was love for him in her heart. It wasn't a burning passion like it had once been, and maybe that's all it had been, a passion. She didn't think so. She thought she loved him, but the infidelity, the accusations – as her mom had once told her, there was a difference in loving someone and being in love with someone – and now, Sarah thought she knew how Emma had felt about Jack.

She came outside, and saw the horses hitched to the wagon, the way she had asked Chuck to do. That was something else she found a little odd. In those moments, when she was basically on autopilot after killing the men who had killed her husband, then had tried to… she couldn't think about that… in those moments, she had basically told him what to do. He didn't argue, he didn't fight with her. In fact, looking back, he gave a nod, a kind smile, and began to do the work.

He was different, that she could see. This world was cold. This world was brutal. He was not. In the moments they first met, her covered with Bryce's blood and her nightgown having been torn from her, instead of worrying about the gun pointed at him he had both worried about her and looked for clothes to cover her nakedness.

"They're all loaded," came his voice, softly, as if not to startle her. She looked over at him. He didn't seem out of breath. "I found six of them, is that right?"

"As far as I know," she said, with a nod. He had put all six in the wagon by himself?

"Bryce was always smart," Chuck continued. "Making that ramp that I could drag the bodies up into the wagon… although I don't suspect that's why he made it."

"No, he made it so he wouldn't have to ask me for help," Sarah said. "He wanted to." Chuck gave her a curious look as she trailed off. "I don't want you to think I'm speaking ill of your friend or the dead…" She didn't know how to say what she was thinking.

"Bryce didn't want a woman helping him," Chuck said softly. She looked over at him and nodded. "Not because you couldn't, or wouldn't, but because… it would look a certain way."

"Yes," she replied. "And we argued about it. I told him that what did he think farmers' wives did?"

"And he said you weren't farmers, were you," Chuck said, remembering his friend, with his ideals that didn't align with Chuck's.

"We had to look a certain way," Sarah said softly. Chuck nodded, and she saw something on his face. Was it guilt?

"So, I'm guessing you're tired, but also, don't want to sleep here. So, are you okay if I drive the wagon, and you take a nap?" Chuck asked.

She looked at him. He was asking her permission. He was making sure she was okay with what he was suggesting. She had not expected this. "That's fine," Sarah told him.

"Okay, then how about we get going. The sun comes up, we really don't want those bodies to get too warm, cause…" He trailed off, pressed his lips together, and blew out his cheeks.

She couldn't help but laugh, and God she needed that. She climbed up into the bench beside him, and sat there, knowing she wouldn't be able to go to sleep. She was absolutely positive she wouldn't.

And that's why when she woke up, with Chuck gently shaking her, she was surprised.

}o{

He helped her down from the wagon, and the two headed into the sheriff's office. Chuck was sure the local sheriff would be in bed, and he would have to deal with one of his deputies. He was quite surprised when he saw Sheriff Graham sitting behind the desk.

"You reach an age you can't sleep, so you decide, do you lay there, or just go on in to work?" Langston said, after seeing the look on Chuck's face. "What can I do for you two this morning?"

"My husband, Bryce, he was killed by the Shaw gang," Sarah said. Langston's face went tense. "I've… we've…"

"They're all dead, Sheriff," Chuck said gently. Sarah nodded. She was losing the ability to speak about what happened. "We've come to report his death and see if there's any bounty on the six men."

"Of course," Langston told them. "Miss, why don't you have a seat and me and your…." Langston cleared his throat. "Obviously you're not her husband, since I know Bryce, and you're not Bryce."

"I'm a friend of Bryce's who was coming to visit," Chuck said. "I know, it sounds fantastical-"

"Actually, no," Langston replied. "He did mention a friend was coming." He turned to Sarah. "Mrs. Larkin, do you mind sitting and let me and your friend deal with this, so you don't have to?" Sarah nodded, sitting in the chair he offered. The two men walked outside, and went to the wagon.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's twenty-five dollars each for a member of the Shaw gang," Chuck said to Langston. "So that would be one hundred fifty."

Langston looked at Chuck. "You know, there used to be this bounty hunter that I haven't seen in ages." Chuck kept staring at the dead men in front of him. "He was different."

"How so?" Chuck asked, still not looking.

"He'd bring men in alive," Langston said. "He was always dressed in black, with a black bandanna over his nose and mouth."

"Sounds like a character," Chuck said.

"We called him the Ghost," Langston continued. "He came in a few times, and he always tried to disguise his voice."

"Obviously, this isn't his work then, is it," Chuck said, gesturing to the six dead men.

"No, this is the work of someone out for revenge," Langston said. "The Shaw gang has never been known to be kind toward females."

"She killed three of them, escaped, and found me," Chuck said, still refusing to look at Langston. "We came back, and took out the other three."

Langston reached down to the hand of one of the dead men, that had blood on it. "He used to shoot them with darts, immobilizing them. Damndest thing I ever saw."

"What are you saying, Sheriff?" Chuck asked, finally turning to Langston.

"Understand me, son, she could have had them tied up, and blown their damn heads off, and I would have cheered her on," Langston began. "We both know there is hatred and revenge brewing in her heart, and it can eat a person alive, and boil them in their juices." Chuck nodded. "She had a few real problems right now."

"What are they?" Chuck asked.

"The first is that hatred I mentioned," Langston said. "She needs to find a way to move on. The second… that house of hers is mortgaged to the hilt."

"God damn it," Chuck swore.

"Bryce was trying to look better than he was," Langston explained.

"I know," Chuck said, shaking his head. "I had hoped he had outgrown that."

"Staying in that house is not only gonna make that bubble of hatred in her stomach grow and fester, but it's going to be a financial burden on her."

"I appreciate all of this, I do," Chuck told him. "But what am I supposed to do? She barely knows me."

"But she knows of you," Langston told him. "Chuck Bartowski, the man that risked everything to save his late wife."

"I'm not sure-" Chuck began.

"The man Bryce told me that taught him to be a bounty hunter," Langston said. Chuck tried to keep his face neutral. "That man that was going to save Bryce."

"He was going after the Shaw gang, wasn't he?" Chuck asked in a low voice, already knowing the answer.

"He was," Langston said, nodding. "The bank had promised Bryce if he brought them in, all of them, or at least Shaw and several of the gang, they would forgive everything he owed, and he could keep the bounties."

"Damn it, Bryce," Chuck said, shaking his head.

"Get her out of here, son," Langston told him.

"Where?" Chuck asked. I'm heading to Beecher's Hope, isn't that near where they are? Aren't they holed up near Blackwater?"

"They are," Langston said.

"What the hell are they doing around here?" Chuck asked.

"Making their run to California," Langston told him. "No telling what all they're shuttling back and forth." Chuck was silent, he didn't know what to say. "It's now thirty dollars a gang member, and a hundred for Shaw himself. I'll go get her money, but she needs to get out of town." Chuck started to retort. "I know, I know."

The two men went inside. Chuck headed over to check on Sarah, and Langston went to his desk to get the money.

"So now you know," Sarah said to Chuck. Langston looked up at the two of them. "Bryce borrowed against the property, and I have nothing."

"No, you have one hundred and eighty dollars," Langston said. "Take it and leave town."

"Where would I go?" Sarah asked.

"Bartwoski there is heading toward Beecher's Hope," Langston said.

"Now wait a minute Langston," Chuck began.

"That's near Blackwater, isn't it?" Sarah asked.

"It is," Langston said.

"I think I will, if that's alright, Chuck?"

Chuck didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Do you know who else is there?" Chuck asked.

"Shaw and his men," Sarah said. "They need to pay, Chuck." Chuck looked at Langston, then shook his head.

"Langston, what in the hell are you doing?" Chuck asked.

"I'm going, Chuck, so the question is, can I ride with you?" Sarah asked. Chuck let out a long sigh.

A/N: Welp, it's getting late. Let's turn in and tomorrow we can pick up where we left off.