Well Ned accidentally ended up shooting off Casey's toe.

"Oh my God!!" you shouted.

Chuck was shouting too and Casey was on the floor screaming in pain.

"My foot!"

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I didn't mean to shoot you, I promise."

"We need a SWAT team down here pronto."

You and Sarah helped Casey out onto the main floor of Buy More, Chuck and Ned behind you.

" It's okay, everyone. It was a mistake. An accidental shooting. But Casey is going to be just fine."

"You idiot. You owe me a toe, Bartowski."

Ellie and Devon helped Casey wrap his foot.

"You're gonna be okay, John. A lot of people get by with nine toes." Ellie told him before walking off and Devon finished wrapping.

Chuck was standing next to Casey when Casey yanked him down.

"You know, I survived three wars without so much as losing a fingernail before I met you, and L/N!"

"Look, I'm really sorry about your toe, John, but we had the situation under control. You're the one who scared him."

Ellie came over and joined you and Sarah, all sitting together.

"You okay?" Ellie asked Sarah.

" I'm just scared. I've never been this close to a gun before."

You looked at her amazed, she was pretty good at this lying and pretending.

" Yeah, me, neither. You know what? We'll... we'll be okay. We just have to stick together. You, me and Y/N."

"Absolutely." you said looking at Ellie and then over to Sarah and you smiled at her.

As the three of you were sitting around you looked over and noticed that Devon was calling all the men over. You overheard them talking about taking down Ned and how they need to take risks because that's what makes them a hero.

You and Ellie walked over while Sarah stayed behind.

"No, they don't, Devon. Being a hero is being alive to take care of your friends and family." Ellie told him.

The phone then began to ring and Ned called over Chuck once more.

" Chuck. Chuck, they keep calling. You better answer it."

" Yeah, coming right now." he shouted to him. He then turned back to the rest of the guys. "Don't do anything. Do nothing. I will be right back."

The negotiator tried to talk to Ned again but it didn't work. Ned needed to think about what his demands were.

"So, uh... so what are you gonna do, Ned?" Chuck asked.

" Well, maybe I should call my wife. She always knows what to do in these situations."

" Yeah, that-that's a great idea. Maybe you could let everyone else make a call, too, check in with their loved ones, let them know that they're safe."

" Okay, Chuck. Yeah."

So Ned let them and everyone began to call someone up. As you were walking around your phone rang. You looked down and saw it was Chuck and you shook your head and laughed.

"Why are you calling me when you could just come over to me?" you asked when you answered.

"Well because it was to call a loved one and you're my girlfriend."

You smiled.

"Well where are you right now?"

"DVDs. I'm in the romantic comedy section, although, for irony's sake, I suppose I should probably be in hostage thrillers."

You laughed again.

"Well wait right there, I'm coming over."

You found him right where he said he would be, crouched down.

"Hey babe." you greeted.

"Hey baby."

You then crouched down in front of him.

"You doing okay?" you asked him.

"Yeah I think so. Are you?"

"As well as I can be in this kind of situation."

Chuck just smiled at you.

"I actually, um... I have something for you. I was gonna give it to you tomorrow, but considering the circumstances, I kind of want to give it to you today." Chuck said, reaching into his pocket.

"Chuck, we're gonna get out of here. We'll be fine okay?"

"I know we will just...humour me?"

"Okay fine...but you ain't getting your gifts till tomorrow."

Chuck laughed a little and then pulled out a small bag from his pocket. He opened the bag and pulled out a charm bracelet.

You gasped.

"Oh my God. Chuck, it's beautiful."

"It's good luck. It was my mom's charm bracelet. My dad gave it to her when Ellie was born." he told you as he put the bracelet on around your wrist.

"Chuck...I can't take this. Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm absolutely sure. I know you're going to be around for the long run."

You looked at him and your eyes got a little watery.

"You got that right." you told him softly, smiling.

"I love you."

"I love you too Chuck."

Chuck leaned over and kissed you.

It didn't last long though since the phone began to ring again and Ned called for him.

"Duty calls." Chuck told you. He kissed you one more time and was off.

You may not have had one of Chuck's gifts with you but you did have one for Sarah. You saw her sitting by the Santa's workshop display still.

You decided to call her up like Chuck did to you.

Sarah looked down at her phone and smiled.

"Hey! Where are you?"

"Coming over to you. One sec."

A few seconds later you were then standing right in front of her and Sarah laughed a little.

"I figured you needed a call from a loved one."

"And it does protect our cover."

"Yeah well, you are my best friend. Right? Kind of?"

Sarah smiled and shook her head, looking down.

"So, does that mean your offer still stands for Christmas with you, Chuck and his family?"

" See, I knew you could be heart-warmed." you said smiling big. "I actually have a little something for you right now. I couldn't wait to give it to you."

You grabbed your bag that you left sitting over by the display and pulled out a box. Sarah smiled and grabbed it. When she opened it, there were two necklaces with hearts on them.

"It's friendship necklaces. One for you and for me. A little cheesy I know but I thought they were so gorgeous and you deserve one from me."

"Oh Y/N , they're beautiful. I don't think I can accept this though."

"Sarah, listen, I know this is a whole cover thing but... you have done so much for me this past year and a half and I can not thank you enough. And whether you think so or not, you have become a best friend to me. So please...accept it?"

Sarah couldn't believe it. She truly thought you were the sweetest.

"Okay then."

Sarah grabbed hers and put it around her neck and you did the same with yours when she handed the box to you.

"Thank you Y/N."

"You're welcome Sarah."

You then looked over and saw Chuck was still on the phone with Ned right beside him.

"I'll be back Sarah. I just want to know what's going on."

As you approached, Chuck and Ned looked at you and nodded to let you know it was okay. Chuck opened up his arm that was free and you came and stood close to him and he wrapped his arm around you as he continued to talk on the phone with the negotiator.

"He wants to know what you want." Chuck asked him, phone held out for him.

" I want to go home and spend Christmas with my family." Ned said into the phone as Chuck continued to hold it.

You and Chuck looked at each other and smiled and everyone else in the store felt that as well.

" All right. Tell him I'm coming in, Chuck. I'm unarmed. I just want to talk so we can get him and everybody else home for Christmas."

" Okay. Okay, all right, yeah, I'm-I'm gonna come open the door right now."

You walked over with Chuck as he went to open the door.

Once the agent was in, Chuck locked it back down again.

Ned had the gun pointed at the agent.

"I'm completely unarmed, Ned. Just want a little face time so we can talk this out."

" Chuck, his girlfriend, you come back over here."

You and Chuck did as you were told and walked back over.

" Okay, I don't want to go to jail."

" It's okay. We're gonna work on that. But in the meantime, what do you say you and I make a trade, okay? Me for two of your hostages. It'd make a lot of people out there feel a whole lot easier."

" Yeah, in here, too." Chuck said.

" Okay, okay, two people can go."

"Okay, good, good. Um, what do you say we start with the injured man? He looks like he needs medical attention." he said, looking at Casey.

" I'm fine. Good. Let Ellie go."

" No, no, Casey, thank you, but you need to go. Your toe could be infected."

"Chuck, you've been a good friend to me, so I'm gonna return the favor. I'm gonna let your girlfriend go."

" No!" you shouted.

Everyone looked at you confused.

"Look if it's all the same to you, I would rather stay here by Chuck's side. Let Ellie go."

"How about your best friend?"

"No!" you and Chuck shouted.

Now everyone was looking at you AND Chuck weird.

"I mean of course, I would want my best friend to be out of harm's way." you started. "That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying... what I'm saying is that..."

"We're not your only friends here!" Chuck jumped in. "Ned, you've endeared yourself into the hearts of everyone here. I think we're all friends. This is a... we're a family. We've gonna through a lot, haven't we? So we should all leave. Why don't we all leave together?"

" No, just those two."

"Okay!" you and Chuck said.

Casey walked over and leaned towards Chuck.

"Our team just arrived. Don't do anything stupid. Maybe the rest of us can get out of here without losing an appendage." Casey told him as a SWAT car arrived.

Sarah then came over to you and hugged you.

"It's going to be okay Y/N. Trust me. I'll never let anyone hurt you or Chuck."

She let go of you and you nodded, smiling a little.

"Okay."

After Sarah and Casey left, the agent, Lieutenant Mauser, walked over to you two.

"Good to finally meet you face-to-face, Chuck." he said, shaking his hand. He then turned to you. "And you are?"

"Oh! I'm his girlfriend, Y/N L/N."

"Nice to meet you too. Did a hell of a job. Pretty impressive for a retail jockey."

"I just want all this over as soon as possible." Chuck told him.

"So do I, Chuck. So do I."

You and Chuck looked down as he played with his watch. You both then flashed on it.

He was Fulcrum.

You both looked up at him terrified.

"Hey, don't worry about it guys. I'm a pro. Everything's gonna be just fine, okay?" he finished, patting Chuck's arm and walked away.

Chuck pulled you in close as you both looked at him, wide eyed.