A/N: Thank you, Wepdiggy, for your beta and your insight into writing fanfiction. My first fanfic went much smoother having you involved.
Disclaimer: No part of Chuck is mine. Dagnabbit.
"No, General. I follow orders. I am just pointing out that if we can't leave the house, protecting the asset against a concentrated attack is going to be difficult at best."
"Colonel Casey, we have reinforcements headed your way."
"I understand, but I don't have the…."
"Hold what you have."
The screen went black before he could ask any further questions. Hold what I have? What I have are three agents, two of whom are just out of training, and Eckhart. Listen to me. I can't even call her Jane in my own head.
Casey lifted his watch and said, "Team Bartowski, check in." How did that name ever stick?
"Stairs are clear." Jane Eckhart was calm and casual on the radio. He smiled and grunted. I love her firm, tight…..radio discipline.
"Back door is clear." Patrick Grant sounded bored. Solid. If someone gets through the back door, I know it will be because Grant is dead.
"Taylor here, the entry way is clear." Samantha Taylor's voice wavered a little.
"Hey academy, no need for names. I know where I put you." I wish I had someone else for the front door, but she is better than Whitaker.
Casey waited a moment for Whitaker to check in, but the silence continued. "Whitaker, check in." I am stuck with another moron, but he's worse than Bartowski with computers.
Casey had no idea how he even made it through agent training. The kid fainted at the sight of a knife, and blushed at the sight of a bra strap. Yes, he had to admit the kid could shoot, but if a fight ever got up close, he'd get snapped like a twig.
"Eckhart, take the bedroom until I get back." Two clicks were the only response. He grunted again. Love that radio discipline.
He made his way to the game room to find Jason Whitaker intently watching the door to the garage. Casey noticed that he had killed the power to the video games to help him hear, and he had taken a good tactical position behind an oak bar. Maybe there's hope for the moron yet.
"Whitaker, did you plan on answering your radio sometime tonight?"
Whitaker jumped in surprise, but quickly recovered. "Sir, I didn't hear you on the radio."
Ok, at least he is paying attention. Bartowski would have been bored and ordering Sizzling Shrimp by now.
"That is obvious, Whitaker. Is your radio even on?"
Whitaker look appalled at the idea that he could have forgotten to turn it on and scrambled to check his radio. He looked up at Casey and shrugged. "It's on."
Casey walked over to him and checked it out, but couldn't find anything wrong. Taking the radio from Whitaker, he banged it on the counter. Nothing. He hit it on the counter a second time, and was rewarded with a squeal. When Casey tested it, it was working again.
Whitaker just shook his head. "That in the manual Colonel?"
"Field adjustment." Casey turned to walk out, but stopped. "Oh, and Whitaker? Nice choice of cover." He turned and walked away leaving Whitaker with a smile on his face.
Checking his watch, he decided to check on the other positions before he took up his post. Ten minutes later, he confirmed that Grant had things well in hand and Taylor was, well, she wasn't freaked out. When he got to the stairs, Eckhart wasn't there. His heart began to race, and he launched himself up the stairs. About half way up, he remembered that he had told her to move back into the bedroom. He slowed to a walk, and when he rounded the top, he saw she was watching him from the bedroom with her silenced MP5 at the ready.
"Should I be insulted that you forgot I was waiting in the bedroom for you?"
"I didn't forget." He tried to sound offended.
"Then what's with the mad rush up the stairs."
He couldn't keep the smile off his face, but he said, "Can it, Ekhart. Tangos are inbound, and we don't have much of a cushion on this one."
"Much of a cushion? Is that a joke?"
Instantly, he regretted what he said. She had been at him for a week to get more agents while Chuck and Sarah were out of the country. Woman's intuition she had called it. "Eckhart." He gave her his patented growl.
She ignored it. "John, you know that if the intel is correct, those kids could die."
"I know that. The General says help is on the way.'
As if to scoff at his statement, his iPhone buzzed alerting him that the perimeter alarm in the front had been breached. Looking at Eckhart, he couldn't find anything to say, so he crossed the distance to her and lowered his lips to hers. Her lips were soft and the kiss was brief due to circumstances, but all in all, it was not a bad kiss
"John, I…"
He stopped her before she could say anything because he didn't know what he would say in return. He just kissed her again and then said the first thing that came to mind. "Keep your bursts short."
She smiled and shook her head. "You're a hopeless romantic."
Casey shrugged and smiled back. "Who knew?"
Without trusting himself to say more, he went into the bed room to check on his asset. He crossed the room the bassinet and looked down at Ellie Grace Bartowski. Gracie was his goddaughter, and was the only other woman, besides Eck...Jane, to wrap him around her little finger. He gently picked her up and transferred her to a carrier next to the bassinet. Quietly, he laid her down again and then moved her to the walk in closet. He slid her in behind some of Sarah's dresses and leaned down to gently kiss her forehead.
Softly, he said, "Gracie, if you are the result of being compromised. I might have to try it myself."
After watching her sleep for a short while, he arranged the dresses around her so no one could see her easily. When he got to the door, he turned and double checked to make sure she was well hidden, and then closed the door behind him. Large steel bars slammed into place as he closed the door. Pulling his iPhone out of his pocket, he confirmed Panic Room Bartowski was activated and running properly. The iPhone truly did have an app for everything.
Gracie was as safe as he could make her; now the trick was getting his team out of this mess in one piece. It worried him that this attack was coming when Chuck and Sarah were out of the country. Casey didn't believe in coincidence, and that meant that the bad guys had solid intel on the Bartowski family. He must know that taking Gracie would paralyze Chuck and Sarah. He was pondering how they might have gotten their intel when an his iPhone buzzed again. The bad guys were at the front door.
Before he could get on the radio, Taylor was giving a sitrep. It wasn't good. She reported six targets at the front door with explosives. He started to give instructions but he was interrupted by breaking glass. Casey thought he heard Taylor's silenced MP5 firing, and then there was more glass shattering and a muffled explosion. Taylor immediately came on the radio and reported that the doors had held and there were three targets remaining out front.
"Can you hold there?"
"Not if they have more explosives!"
I knew she was too new for that spot. I should have taken the front door. "Fall back to the top of the stairs; I am en route to relieve you."
He stepped out of the bedroom and motioned for Jane over. "I need you to watch Gracie. Taylor will take the top of the stairs."
Rebellion showed bright in Jane's eyes. Casey knew she did not like him putting himself in danger, but she was also a good soldier and reluctantly nodded. She went into the bedroom and he made sure that Taylor had made it to the top of the stairs before he continued down to the entry way. On his way down, his iPhone started to buzz again. He didn't have time to look at it, so he just announced there was another perimeter breach.
He got to the bottom of the stairs and immediately peeked through the broken window to get an idea on what he faced. There was no movement out front. The attack on the front door had to be a diversion. "Grant, they are coming to you."
"I have movement."
Casey ducked under the window, and checked on the front doors. The wood was cracked and they would need to be replaced, but for now the steel bars inside the door were holding.
"How many, Grant?"
"Hard to tell, but too many to be a diversion."
"Copy. How much time do we have?"
"None. Two down. Three are circling to the garage side, and two more to the asset side."
"Ekhart, you have two coming your way."
"I heard."
"Grant, hold what you got." There was a double click in response.
He checked the front yard one last time, but there was still no movement. If the three from the front hooked up with the three from the back, they could give Whitaker more than he could handle. "Whitaker, I am headed your way. Don't shoot me."
Was that a snort on the air? He didn't say anything until he rounded the corner into the game room.
"Nice snort." Whitaker couldn't keep a smile off his face.
The kid reminded him a lot of Chuck. He was almost sorry he couldn't banter with the kid, but he had to get a move on. People to kill and all that good stuff. "We have a bunch of bad guys coming this way."
"A bunch?"
Casey shrugged. He pulled out black and gray face paint from his pocket and started applying it to his face. Dark paint went on the chin, cheeks, nose and forehead. "I am going outside to get some intel on the enemy, but I am going to need you to cover me. They may already be in the garage." Light paint went around the eyes and under the nose and mouth.
Checking his MP5, Whitaker nodded that he was ready to go. Casey checked his weapons and stepped up to the garage door. "I am going to go right and hide near the trash cans. Shoot anything that moves, close the door and kill anything that tries to get in."
Whitaker only nodded again, and brought his MP5 to the ready.
Taking a deep breath, Casey threw the door open and dashed to the right behind cover. Whitaker must not have seen a target because Casey didn't hear shots fired before the door slammed shut again. In the darkness, Casey waited until his eyes adjusted before he slowly moved toward the side door. He didn't need to look through the window to see if there were enemy soldiers outside. He could hear. Amateurs. They are so loud; I could hear them from three doors down.
He couldn't quite make out what they were whispering, but if he were in charge, he decided he would try to use his manpower advantage to force his way into the garage. Quickly, he looked around and chose his hiding place, drew his knife and waited. After only a few minutes of waiting, Casey saw the door open a crack and small mirror was thrust through the crack. Holding still, he waited until the point man was convinced it was safe and opened the door. Slowly the soldier crept forward until he came with striking distance.
In a rush, Casey pushed soldier's weapon up and drove his knife between his ribs and into his heart. As the soldier fell to the ground, Casey ripped his weapon from his hands and fired back through the door. The next soldier coming through the door was riddled with bullets. Casey grabbed him before he fell and threw the body at the next soldier in the line. He and the body went down in a heap, and Casey moved on to the next threat. There were three more soldiers left, but two were watching the front yard, and Casey had surprised the third. He gunned them down with his MP5, and headed for the front yard. He had to get eyes on the other side of the house, so he reloaded and continued his mission.
His guess had been right. There was no one in the front of the house, because they had gone to the assist with the garage attack. When he it made to the opposite side of the house, he checked around the corner and swore silently in frustration. There weren't just two soldiers on this side. There were at least ten soldiers maneuvering a ladder against the house to get to the roof. When they got it in place, they would have a clear avenue to Jane. She was good, but she wasn't that good. I am out numbered, but I have surprise and lots of ammo. This is going to be a good fight.
Stepping from behind cover, he was surprised that two soldiers had made it to roof. He fired the entire magazine at them, and ducked back behind the corner of the house. Dropping his MP5, he drew his 9mm and knife. The first soldier around the corner got a round in the face, and Casey drove his body back into the other soldiers. After pushing the entire group backwards, he stepped back to get separation and shot the two soldiers in front of him. Two more soldiers were scrambling up the ladder. He took shots at them, but he was being pressured by those still on the ground. At least two rounds had hit him in the protective vest, and he was pretty sure he had been cut or shot in his right thigh. He wanted to help Jane, but the fighting was getting brutal. Casey smiled as he focused on his attacks. Knee. Throat. Groin. Eyes. He used all his tricks, but he still had to retreat to keep them from getting behind him.
As he made it back to the corner of the house, he used it to anchor his left side and drove his attackers to the right. If he got a little more room, he could get past them to get to the ladder. It was the last thought he had before something slammed into the back of his head and he dropped to a knee. The soldiers took advantage of the opening and piled on top of him. He fought hard, but he was dizzy and trying to keep from vomiting. They crushed him to the ground, but before the inevitable kill shot, there was a shout and the pressure on top of him lessened as soldiers backed away from him.
Casey tried to get up, but his head spun and he fell back against the house. He looked up and snarled. "You. I'll be damned."
"I am disappointed, John. After you threw the body on me, you should have finished me."
"Hand me my gun. We can do an instant replay." One of the soldiers kicked the air out of his lungs.
"Enough. I want him alive. If we can't have the baby, John is a nice secondary prize."
Casey couldn't help but smile.
Jane must have done it. My girls were safe.
A/N: So who do you think got the drop on Casey? I would love to hear your guesses.