This story was suppose to be for the Scifibigbang story but I had to drop out since I couldn't finish this before the deadline. Its been wonderfully betaed by asphaltcowgrrl and all remaining mistakes are my own.

Chuck vs Magic

It was strange to Chuck, because normally when the bad guys captured him or any part of his team they usually threatened to kill them or torture them. So far all that had happened was that they were tied up and forced to drink a foul liquid that turned out not to be a new kind of truth serum or poison. The bad guys were talking to each other in another room leaving Chuck, Casey and Sarah sitting tied to heavy metal chairs with one guard watching over them.

It was Sarah who spotted Shaw hiding in the ventilation above the guards head first. Shaw looked as if he were about to come through the vent to take the lone guard out when suddenly the door opened and the rest of their captors entered.

"Everything is ready. Our people should be in position on the other side," the leader of the group said. Chuck had flashed on him earlier. He was a low level agent of the Ring who was involved in some kind of slave trafficking that there was scant information about. The only strange thing about the slave trafficking was that instead of women and children it was mostly men and a few women that were taken.

Men circled around the trio of prisoners and began untying them from the chairs forcing them to stand. Chuck looked around preparing to flash on his Kung Fu and help the others take down the people in the room when there was a sudden burst of light that blinded him and kept him from flashing.

Gasps told him that the flash of light had blinded everyone in the room who had not been aware that it was about to happen. Chuck blinked trying to dispel the momentary blindness so that he could flash. What he saw shocked him beyond the ability to flash.

In the room before them was what looked like a circular window hanging in mid-air. Beyond the window was a dark forest with trees and distant mountains.

Before anyone could move, Shaw broke through the ventilation screen and leaped into battle. Chuck couldn't flash, so he wasn't much help in trying to take down the Ring agents. Casey and Sarah were of course battling it out. There were shouts, then suddenly Chuck felt himself being lifted and thrown into the strange window.

He landed in dirt knocking the air out of his lungs and stunning him momentarily. Chuck looked up to try and understand where he was and saw eight men standing around him.

Then a weight landed on his back then rolled off of him and Chuck turned to see a bruised Casey roll on the ground beside him. Casey grunted as he tried to rise to his feet, but failed and fell back onto his stomach on the ground. Chuck turned to help Casey, only to be interrupted when Sarah and then Shaw were thrown through the window to land on both Chuck and Casey. Chuck looked behind them to see the window to the room where they had been held captive suddenly disappear. A feeling of dread dropped into his stomach, but before he could contemplate what the closing of the window meant, he heard something he thought he would never hear. Two screams of pain rent the air. Chuck recognized the screams though he had never thought to hear them in his lifetime. He looked over in shock to see Casey and Sarah writhing on the ground in what looked to be gut wrenching pain. It had been their screams that drew Chuck's attention.

The two of them cried out in pain again unable to control themselves. Shaw had gone to Sarah holding her asking her what was wrong. Chuck wanted to go to Sarah and Casey, but looked at the men who surrounded them instead hoping that they might have an answer. They appeared to be waiting, but for what Chuck didn't know.

"Oh my God!" Shaw's exclamation of horror drew Chuck's attention back to his friends and he saw immediately what had caused Shaw's outburst.

Casey and Sarah were both changing. Chuck didn't know what to call it. Their limbs had elongated and their faces were distorted. It looked painful and if their cries were any indication it was.

Fortunately for Casey and Sarah it didn't last long. Within minutes Casey and Sarah were gone and in their places were two big heavily muscled horses lying on their sides, breathing heavily.

The men broke into action at that moment and came forward with ropes in their hands, prepared to capture the horses before they overcame their shock. The men were used to the animals being docile for days due to the shock of the change, but those had been ordinary people, not agents trained to overcome shock and pain to do their job.

The stallion moved first, gaining its hooves in one quick movement, its dark head whipping out to snag one of the would-be captor's arms in strong teeth. While the stallion practically ripped the man's arm off, the mare had gained its hooves and was using them to lash out at their captors, knocking two of the men at Shaw's feet. Shaw, ever the superman agent, was quick to grab the men's swords that were attached to the belts at their waists.

"Chuck!" Once Shaw has his attention, he raised one of the swords. Chuck took one look at the sword and flashed.

Seeing that Chuck's flash was over and that he had recovered, Shaw threw the sword at Chuck who caught it by the hilt, turning just in time to block the sword of one of the men.

Three men were down, one was fighting with Chuck and another was battling with Shaw, while the other three attempted to capture the horses, who were fighting off the men using teeth and hooves. Ropes were hanging over the black stallion's neck, but the men who had placed them there were having too much trouble handling the big stallion trying to avoid his hooves and teeth.

The white mare neighed loudly and trampled the man who had attempted to rope her, and galloped straight at Shaw and the man he was fighting. The man's sense of self preservation took over and he leaped out of the way of the huge white mare. Shaw was quick to grab a handful of mane and leap onto the mare's back. The mare didn't try and remove him. Instead she continued to run, galloping away from the encampment that the men had set up.

"Chuck," Shaw shouted as they raced toward him. Shaw had his hand out hoping to help him up behind him on the mare. Chuck looked over at the black stallion who had killed one of the two men who had been trying to capture him.

Chuck's opponent wised up, especially with the mare bearing down on them and ran. Chuck took that opportunity to run toward the black stallion just as the stallion knocked over the last would be wrangler. A few moments before he reached the stallion, Chuck flashed, and everything known about riding a horse, saddleback, bareback, and even trick riding was downloaded into his brain. Chuck stopped a few feet from the stallion, disoriented from the flash. He looked up at the stallion into its dark eyes and what he saw shocked him down to his knees. Behind the dark equine eyes, Casey' soul peered at Chuck. All the pain and horrors that the agent had seen in his many years of life were there to be seen and Chuck was horrified that Casey and Sarah were aware of what had happened to them. They were trapped in those bodies. Chuck couldn't move.

Casey snorted and stamped a hoof impatiently, and Chuck could practically hear Casey's voice, "Now isn't the time, moron!" though it was only his imagination. But it broke Chuck out of his trance, and he leaped onto Casey's back. He used the sword to cut the ropes from Casey's neck and then Casey galloped away, but instead of heading for where Sarah and Shaw waited, Casey was galloping toward the picketed horses that surely belonged to the men who had attempted to capture them. The horses were all saddled and bridled tied to a rope strung between two trees. At the charge of the black stallion, the horses began to panic pulling on their tethers. Having figured out Casey's plan, Chuck used his sword to cut the rope allowing the panicking horses to scatter. As they did, Chuck took the opportunity to grab some of the apparently full saddlebags from the saddles of the horses. He managed to get three of them before the horses were too scattered. Casey then stopped chasing the horses and turned to gallop following the path taken by the white mare.

Shaw and Sarah were waiting for them just over the hill that overlooked the area that they had been brought to through the strange portal. Chuck tossed Shaw one of the saddlebags, and Shaw laid it over his legs just as Casey ran past them and Sarah followed at his flank.

The two agents turned horses ran at a full gallop through the dense forest. Chuck and Shaw rode low over their necks trying not to get swept off by low lying branches. The two horses were doing their best to get as far from their would-be captors as possible.

Eventually, the two horses began to slow down as fatigue set in. They slowed to a walk covered in sweaty foam, their great chests heaving. Chuck and Shaw both slid off their mounts and began to walk beside their teammates.

Now that they were far from their captors and possibly safe, Chuck turned to Shaw, "This is really happening isn't it?"

"I don't know, Chuck. It feels real, but it's impossible," he said as he walked with his hand on Sarah's white shoulder, the saddlebags slung over his own shoulder.

Chuck looked over at the big black stallion that he was walking beside, his own hand laying on the thick curved neck that was wet with sweat. He could still see Casey within those dark eyes, the intelligence and the darkness that had always been behind blue eyes.

"I think it is real," Chuck said. "We can't let those men have Casey and Sarah. That's what this slave ring was about, I think. They were making these intelligent horses for some reason."

"Probably for wars and battles. The swords tell me this is a primitive society. They no doubt still fight on horseback with armor and edged weapons. It's why Sarah and Casey are so big. They are war-horses built to carry an armored man into battle," Shaw said. "A well-trained warhorse was worth its weight in gold in the middle ages, I figure a thinking warhorse would be worth even more."

Casey wasn't sure how it was that he could move. He had four legs now, rather than two and his eyesight was funny, but for some reason he had been able to maneuver in his new body rather easily.

He had been shocked by the pain of the transformation as much as the transformation itself, but upon seeing the men come forward with their ropes, Casey had let his training take over.

"We need to find them shelter, Casey," Sarah said. "It's getting darker and colder."

"I've been keeping a look out, but so far I haven't seen anything beyond the trees," Casey answered. He didn't know how he and Sarah were communicating. Were they neighing and whickering at each other, he didn't know. He thought it might also be some type of mind to mind speaking, but they were unable to talk to Chuck or Shaw. Fortunately, they could understand what Chuck and Shaw were saying which would make it a little easier at least.

Suddenly, Casey stopped, his ears going forward. His hearing was much better in this body as was his sense of smell. "Do you hear that?"

Sarah had also stopped and the humans with them were looking around, their hands on the hilts of their stolen swords, thinking Casey was sensing danger.

"Its water, a river or a stream I think." Sarah said.

"We should find it. If we follow the river at least we will have water and maybe it will lead us somewhere, like a village or a town," Casey said. He started moving again as did Sarah. The two human members followed along as well.

Within half an hour they made it to the banks of a small river where they stopped to drink. Sarah and Casey both lowered their heads to drink from the cold river. Shaw and Chuck knelt upon the bank and cupped water in their hands to drink.

Casey lifted his head after having drunk his fill and looked over at Sarah. "I am going to scout the other side of the river. Stay here with Shaw and Chuck to protect them. Hopefully I will find some kind of shelter for them."

Casey then splashed through the river to the other side, the water coming up to his belly. He disappeared on the far bank through a stand of large trees. Chuck and Shaw watched him go.

"Where is he going?" Shaw asked not really expecting an answer from Sarah.

"I don't know," Chuck said as he sat down on a large rock to wait. He decided to open up one of the two saddlebags he carried.

A few moments later he exclaimed, "Hey look what I found." Chuck pulled out a dark cloak from the depths of the saddlebag. It was a heavy woolen cloak oiled to be as waterproof as possible. Deciding that the cloak would be warm, Chuck laid it over his shoulders and hooked the clasp securing it. The cloak also had a deep hood to cover his head should it begin to rain. The cloak went well with his black mission clothes that he still wore. Once the cloak was secure around him, Chuck dove back into the saddlebags hoping to find more goodies.

Shaw seated himself on the rock as well and looked through the saddlebag he carried. He also found a cloak similar to Chuck's and put it on over his dark mission clothes.

The saddlebags yielded up more goodies. In each saddlebag was a flint and steel, a small knife, two canteens, a small purse filled with coins, a whetstone and oil. Also in the saddlebags, wrapped in cheesecloth, was some travel bread, cheese, beef jerky, and dried fruit. Before they could enjoy the food, Casey returned splashing across the river.

Sarah had watched as Chuck and Shaw found the items in the saddlebags, but had been on watch for danger. She was aware when Casey began to return, and had turned her head to watch him cross the river.

"I found a small cave for them to shelter in," Casey said as he reached their side of the river. "I see they looked through the saddlebags. Did they find food in them?" Casey asked.

"Yes, they did. They were about to start eating when they heard you coming," Sarah said.

"Good, then once we get them settled into the cave, they can build a fire and eat then sleep. While they do that you and I are going to have to find a place to graze."

"Okay, how are we going to tell them what's going on?" Sarah looked at Chuck and Shaw who were watching Casey while they packed everything but the cloaks back into the saddlebags.

"I hope one of them knows Morse code." Casey then began to stamp one hoof on the ground in a pattern. He repeated the pattern. Sarah read it and chuckled. He was saying in Morse code, "Pay attention, morons."

After Casey's hoof stamped out the sentence the first time, Chuck flashed, and was able to read what Casey was telling him. Once Casey knew Chuck was listening he stamped out a quick pattern that basically told Chuck and Shaw to mount up because he found shelter for them.

Once Chuck relayed the message, Shaw nodded in agreement. Shaw swung himself up on Sarah's back while Chuck mounted up on Casey. The two agent turned horses then crossed the river and Sarah followed Casey's lead until they reached a pile of boulders where a small cave was visible. Casey and Sarah stopped at the cave and the two humans dismounted. Casey tapped out a message that basically told them to camp there for the night and that he and Sarah were going to look for some grazing for themselves.

"Be careful," Chuck told them. Casey and Sarah both nodded their heads and then walked off into the surrounding forest leaving the two humans to make their camp.

"If you will collect some wood for a fire, I will gather some pine boughs for us to sleep on rather than the hard ground," Shaw said to Chuck.

Chuck nodded at that and the two of them went looking for their respective items.

Luckily for them they found what they needed before the sun was completely down. The clouds had begun to build up as well and by the time they had a fire started it began to rain.

Inside the cave, Shaw and Chuck fed the fire and shared the food they had found in the saddlebags. The bread was hard, and the cheese was a bit moldy but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"I hope Sarah and Casey are alright," Chuck said as he settled onto his bed of pine boughs wrapped in the warm wool cloak.

"I am sure they are fine. Those horse bodies of theirs will keep them warm and I don't doubt that they could use their hooves and teeth to take on just about anything," Shaw said with a chuckle as he wrapped himself in his cloak to settle into his bed of pine boughs.

Casey and Sarah followed the river downstream in hopes of finding someplace that they could graze. Luckily for them they came across the ruins of a small house. The only thing left was the foundation with a few blackened timbers still standing. Surrounding the ruins of the house was the weed choked remains of a garden and a small field that looked as if it had been used to grow grain. The field was full of grass, weeds and wild grain stalks, and small herd of large deer were grazing in the field. Upon the arrival of the two war-horses, the deer had lifted their heads to stare at the horses, but finding no smell of danger returned to their grazing.

Sarah and Casey lowered their own heads to graze just as it began to rain. They ignored the rain and continued to graze, shaking their coats every so often.

Casey's grazing took him near the garden and he noticed that among the weeds were some vegetable plants that needed to be harvested. He decided that he would bring Chuck and Shaw to the ruins in the morning so that they could harvest some of the plants for extra food for themselves.

They grazed all night, the rain finally stopping several hours after it had begun. They slept standing, leaning against each other for a few hours heads resting on their partner's back. They were well rested after just a few hours of sleep and were able to continue grazing trying to fill their bellies so they could take their teammates to a town or village.

When morning came, Casey and Sarah followed the river upstream back to the cave where they had left their teammates. Casey leaned his head in and saw that Chuck and Shaw were still asleep, lying upon pine boughs, wrapped in the cloaks they had found. Casey trumpeted a neigh that rang through the confines of the cave startling both of the men to wakefulness. Chuck screamed a girlish scream and Casey nickered a laugh. He pulled his head out of the cave to allow Chuck and Shaw to exit after they put out the nearly dead fire and put their boots back on.

Shaw and Chuck came out of the cave and Chuck looked at Casey and said, "That wasn't funny. You scared the hell out of us."

Casey only shook his head still quite amused by both of the men's reactions.