Disclaimer: I own nothing.

This story picks up right where season two ended which chuck uttering the words "Guys, I know Kung Fu."

Chapter 1

"It's Hard to Say Goodbye"

"Guys, I know kung fu."

Chuck stared at his hands in disbelief. Two lethal weapons that just took out five highly skilled super spies on their own. Before he could utter another word Chuck dropped to his knees. The intense pressure building in his head. It was becoming too much for him. His eyes rolled back in his head and his hands flew to his temples struggling for some sort of relief. Sarah and Casey were by his side in seconds.

"Chuck!" Sarah rushed to catch him as he collapsed. Casey searched the unconscious men that surrounded them until he found a knife on one of them. He quickly went to work cutting the ties that bound his hands together. As soon as he freed himself, he rushed to Sarah to free her from her confines as well.

Once her hands were free she was able to cradle Chuck's head in her lap. "Chuck? Can you hear me? Chuck?" tears began to well in her eyes. Chuck was pale, his body was convulsing and he looked like he was in excruciating pain. She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Please be okay."

"Walker. We have to get out of here." Casey recovered several weapons from the bodies closest to him and instructed Sarah to do the same. She wasn't exactly thinking straight right now. Sarah quickly retrieved two guns and was back by Chuck's side in a matter of seconds. Sarah helped Casey get Chuck to his feet. Casey slung Chuck over his shoulder and proceeded towards the door. "Cover us." Casey ordered Sarah as he motioned for her to go ahead of him. The three of them made their way out of the secret compound in no time. Sarah immediately got on her phone to call in their back team for clean up and recovery of the spies Chuck had single handedly taken out.

"We have to get Chuck checked out Casey. He doesn't look good." Sarah pleaded from the back seat of the crown vic.

"We can't exactly just walk into the hospital with him now can we?" Casey grunted from the driver's seat.

"We need to get him someplace safe. We can't bring him to castle. It's been compromised." Sarah stroked Chuck's cheek, his head resting in her lap.

"Well we can't bring him back to his place. The reception is still going on."

"We'll bring him to my place, it's secure there and we can contact Beckman." Sarah ran her fingers through Chuck's hair, playing with a few unruly curls. Chuck seemed to be a little more comfortable now and didn't appear to be in anymore pain. Still Sarah was very concerned. He had been unconscious for nearly half an hour now and was showing no signs of waking up.

Casey pulled into a back alley near Sarah's apartment building. He slung Chuck over his shoulder again and the three of them entered the hotel through the back entrance where they proceeded up to Sarah's room via the service elevator. Surprisingly they made it to Sarah's room without running into anyone. Casey flopped Chuck down on Sarah's bed as she went to work trying to get through to Beckman.

Finally after several attempts at contact, Beckman's face appeared on Sarah's TV screen. Casey and Sarah filled her in on the events of the night. Beckman was none too pleased to hear of Bryce or the destruction of the new intersect. She was even more unnerved to hear that Chuck uploaded the new intersect before destroying it; however, Beckman agreed that right now their main concern was Chuck's well being and protecting the intersect at all costs. Sarah and Casey were to assume the role of Chuck's handlers once again at least for the time being, they were to protect Chuck at all costs. Beckman dispatched one of their doctors to examine Chuck. Dr. Haz would be arriving at 0900 until then Chuck was to be under their watchful eyes at all times. Sarah, Chuck and Casey were scheduled for their next debriefing at 1200.

"Before signing off, I just want to say that despite the evenings losses, we came out on top here. While Agent Larkin will be considered a significant loss to the operation along with the destruction of the new intersect, what Bartowski did was nothing short of remarkable, considering he spent the last two years trying to get the intersect removed from his head. Am I to understand that if it were not for Bartowski, none of you would be standing here right now"

"That's right General." Casey replied. "Bartowski saved our lives tonight, in doing so he put a significant dent in the ring's operation."

"I see Colonel Casey. Well I look forward to speaking with Mr. Bartowski tomorrow." Before anyone could get in another word. The tv screen went blank. Sarah turned her attention back to the man who still lied unconscious on her bed.

"Well Walker, you up for babysitting tonight? I'll go run a sweep through castle, check security and find out what I can about this new threat of ours."

"Yeah…sure. Let me know what you find out. I'll have Chuck at castle to meet with the doctor in the morning." Sarah walked Casey to the door and closed it behind him and latched the dead bolt. She released a heavy sigh. It had been one hell of a night and it was far from over.

Her attention once again turned to Chuck. She made her way to the bed. Climbing up next to him she began checking his vitals once again. His pulse was steady and his color was good. She leaned down close to him to monitor his breathing. It was no longer labored like it had been at the compound, it was steady and controlled. Relief swept over Sarah as she relaxed next to Chuck on the bed.

Sarah watched Chuck intently. He seemed relaxed, so content, so at ease. She couldn't help but be a little envious of that.

Sarah's mind drifted to earlier that evening. It wasn't even two hours ago that Chuck had held her in his arms as they swayed back and forth on the dance floor. Sarah was about to tell him everything when his father had interrupted them. Sarah Walker didn't want to save the world. She wanted all the same things Chuck did. And more importantly, she wanted them with Chuck. She wondered if she would ever be able to tell him this now.

Sarah laid down next to Chuck, resting her head on his chest. She draped one arm across his stomach. Sarah closed her eyes and allowed a single tear to fall down her cheek as she fell into a restless sleep.

Like clock work, Sarah woke up every hour to check on Chuck. Finally sometime around 4 in the morning she got out of bed and moved to the chair by his bedside. Her mind kept drifting back to 3 days ago when she had woken up with Chuck at the motel in Barstow. The morning that changed everything. How she wished she could have stop time at that very moment.

Things have been off between them since earlier in the day when she told Chuck she was leaving. She had no choice, it was her job, she had her orders. Or was she just making excuses again? Excuses to keep her distance, to protect her heart from what she knew was the inevitable.

She thought she had been in love before with Bryce, but what did she know about love?

Sarah's mother died when she was only six years old. Right after, her father had swept her away from her grandparents, the two people she adored most in the world. She lived a life on the run, doing con jobs with her father until the FBI finally caught up with him. And during those years, the only love her father could ever show her was a large ice cream cone or a $20 bill thrown her way for a job well done. What did Sarah Walker know about love?

Sarah brought her knees close to her chest hugging them tightly. She closed her eyes for what she meant to be only a few minutes but when she opened them again she noticed the faint sunlight peeking through the blinds. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, it read 6:47. Chuck was still asleep. Sarah was worried. Chuck had been out for hours. What if the new intersect caused him some permanent damage. Sarah was about to get up to check his vitals once again, when she noticed Chuck beginning to stir. She quickly rushed to the bed. Kneeling by his side, she held his hand with one hand and stroked his cheek with the other. "Chuck?…… Chuck…wake up."

Chuck moaned as he came to. His eyes blinked a few times before he could manage to keep them open. "Uhh… S….Sarah?" he managed to get out.

"Chuck?…Chuck, I'm right here." another tear fell from Sarah's eyes. One thing was for sure, she was sick of all this crying.

"Sarah." he looked at her intently, concern looming in his eyes. "What's the matter? …Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I should be asking you that question." she replied.

"Sarah…you're crying." Chuck managed to sit himself up in the bed. His hand moved to Sarah's face. Ever so gently he ran his thumb over her cheek to brush the tear away.

"Apparently it's something I do." She smiled. "Are you okay?" she turned the discussion back to him.

"I'm fine. Got a little headache but I don't think it's anything a couple aspirin couldn't fix."

Sarah pulled away from Chuck abruptly. "Let me get you some." She tried to get up quickly but Chuck caught hold of her arm.

"Sarah wait." Sarah froze. Shivers trickled down her spine. His touch always did that to her. Sarah's eyes met Chuck's and she thought she was going to lose it. There was no holding back now. The waterworks were in full force. "Sarah?" he pulled her into a tight embrace. She sobbed into his chest as he traced soothing circles on her back. "What is it?… Talk to me Sarah."

"Why Chuck? Why did you do it?… Why did you upload the new intersect? You were free and now…" Sarah turned away from him. It hurt too much looking him in the eyes. All she ever wanted was to protect him and she had failed. Had she been there none of this ever would have happened. "We shouldn't have let you come."

Sarah removed herself from the bed and walked towards the window. She noticed the sun was high in the sky now as she looked out.

"Sarah. I had to do it. Bryce was dying, he gave me the cartridge to destroy the intersect, told me how I couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands. All these things were going through my mind. I felt this sense of obligation, to my country, my father, you."

Sarah turned to face him. The tears still pooled in her eyes.

"It was the only way Sarah. I knew I had to destroy the intersect, but at the same time I knew I had to protect it."

Sarah turned again to look out the window. "And I have to protect you." She replied. It came out as nearly a whisper.

"Sarah this doesn't change anything." Chuck moved from the bed and came to stand behind her.

"It changes everything Chuck. You are the asset and I'm your handler. We can't be together." She replied coldly.

"You were my handler when we were in Barstow? How is it different now?" Chuck moved in closer to her until he was now standing directly behind her. He brought his arms around her waist.

"Chuck." She tried to protest but she couldn't fight it for long and found herself relaxing into his embrace.

" I didn't risk everything for things to end like this. We're going to be together. I promise you Sarah. I'm going to fix this." Chuck tightened his arms around Sarah, he leaned in and brushed his lips ever so gently against Sarah's head.

Their moment was interrupted by Sarah's cell phone ringing. She removed herself from Chuck's embrace and moved to her night stand to retrieve it.

"It's Casey." she said looking at the screen. "Casey, did you find anything?…..Really?…. no. He just woke up…. No I haven't told him yet." Sarah looked at the clock by her bed. "Okay, let me fill him in. We'll meet you at Castle in an hour…..Okay" Sarah hung up the phone and put it back on her night stand.

"What was that about?….Tell me what?" Chuck questioned.

"Beckman has a doctor coming in to examine you. You blacked out for hours after your flash last night, you were in excruciating pain. We have to make sure there was no permanent damage."

"Yeah, umm last time Beckman sent a doctor to examine me, he kidnapped you with plans to torture you and then tried to kill me."

"Don't worry Chuck. This doctor doesn't know anything about the intersect, just that you had some head trauma last night. Casey and I will be with you the whole time. Then we have a debriefing with Beckman at 1200, she'll tell us how she wants us to proceed."

"Great." Chuck replied sarcastically.

"So, how about those aspirin now?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea."