A/N: Had this stray thought this afternoon and it wouldn't let me go...wierd huh?...just had to put it down. Of course that's were i got the title...not sure what I've got here...if anything...any thought, musings, objections, suggestions...do you think this might have legs?...drop a review and let me know...I'll answer any(well just about any) questions... JT

Hey Jim...get better!

Don't own Chuck or anything else of value...

No extensive rambling today...tired from all that one fingered typing...seriously...five hours...start to finish(?)...please review.

Chuck : The Last(ish) Man

Wednesday-The DAY-

General Diane Beckman looked worried…and if she was honest with herself, worried didn't even begin to cover her level of concern. A woman claiming to be one of five 'Elders' of an organization that called themselves 'The Ring' had turned herself into the NSA, bringing with her a story that seemed unbelievably ludicrous

And the only reason the story had landed on her desk was because of the word, Intersect, which the woman claimed was the basis of the farfetched tale.

According to the woman, one of the 'Ring's' scientists had been leading their research into Intersect technology and had created a program that she claimed would allow them to 'enhance' all of their operatives. The Elders had bought into her promises and had 'volunteered' fifty of their best operatives to be a part of her experiment. When all fifty of the operatives had died from massive brain hemorrhages, the lead scientist found herself on the outs with the other four Elders.

The woman claimed that she had tried to support the scientist but that the other four Elders had overruled her, putting a termination order out on the scientist. That had been almost a month ago and the scientist promptly went off grid, leaving no trace of herself or her work. Two days ago the woman had been contacted by the scientist. The conversation had started out strangely and then had gotten very scary. The scientist, a Dr. Rena Stanhope, claimed that she had located the problem within her original experiment and fixed it. She then added that she was going to take her revenge on the four Elders and all of the other men in the world who had, in her words, continued a 'wrong' that had been going on since the dawn of time. The scientist then spent the next ten minutes rambling on about 'man's sins against womankind' and her plans to right this ages old wrong. She claimed to have gathered together a large group of like minded scientists, all of them women, who would be helping her implement her plan. The Elder had listened raptly until Dr. Stanhope explained that she was going to 'thin the herd' by broadcasting her 'update' to the entire world.

"And after the broadcast, 99.99% of the male population of the world will no longer be in a position to 'oppress' women" she remembered the scientist boasting. At that point, she decided that Dr. Rena Stanhope was batshit crazy.

"You can't possibly be serious" she had said. "I mean really, How could you possibly make all of the men on the earth watch your broadcast?" she had added, not worried, just curious to here more of the mad woman's claims.

"Of course we can't get all of the men on the planet to take the upload…that would be impossible. However, we've already loaded the program and with the help of my 'partners', we're going to 'hi-jack', for a little while, all of the major satellites that transmit 95% of the world's television programming. On Friday night, at 8:00 PM, Eastern time, we'll begin broadcasting our update. Twice an hour, until midnight…Western time…we'll broadcast our 'message of hope'…for all the world to see."

"You can't be serious…what about all of the women and children who will be watching…won't they all be killed as well…if this program of yours does what you say it will?" the Elder remembers asking.

"No…of course not…that would be crazy. My program is so perfectly written that it will only affect males above the puberty threshold…and not all men will be susceptible to the programming. We wouldn't want to kill off every man…the human race just wouldn't survive."

"Oh…that makes it better then…" the Elder had said before laughing out loud, "…and then what?" she'd asked, the condescension obvious in her tone.

"Then?...Then we'll begin reforming all the governments of the world…under the guidance of intelligent, insightful women. The surviving male population will be 'watched' over to make sure that they are safe and can't do any harm to our new world."

"And you're saying that this event will happen this Friday night? Why call me?" the Elder had asked…begin to have a faint feeling of dread. 'This woman's original program had killed fifty volunteers' she had said to herself as she waited for the answer to her question.

"That is correct…Friday night the new world begins. The reason I called you is because you supported me when the other four Elders turned their backs on my years of service and dedication to their cause. Your support lead me to believe that you would be of great use to us in the coming times. I know it's a lot to process so please, take tonight to think about it…I'll call you tomorrow for your answer."

As soon as the phone call had ended, the Elder began making some phone calls of her own. The first four calls were to the other Elders and each call resulted in disbelief and an utter lack of concern. One man had even laughed and asked her if she had been drinking before hanging up. The fifth call she made was to her connection in the NSA who had promised to pass her offer of surrender along to her superiors. After finishing the call, she poured herself a stiff drink and settled back into her easy chair, preparing herself for a long night. She remembered being sure that she wouldn't get any sleep and promising herself that on Wednesday, she'd find some way to talk to somebody, much higher up the food chain at the NSA.

-00-00—0-000—0

General Diane Beckman was seated at her desk, looking down at the report in her hand. Looking up, she made eye contact with the 'Elder' seated in front of her. "Do you honestly expect me to believe any of this?" she asked as she tossed the report onto her desk top.

"General…I honestly don't know what to believe…but Dr. Stanhope may very well be capable of pulling this off…maybe not on the 'grand' scale she is boasting of…but it worried me enough to get me to come to you. I put myself in your hands after admitting to you that I was one of the leaders of an organization that is working against the government of the United States of America. I'm admitting to treason…that should give you some idea of just how serious I'm taking her 'story'.

"Your statement says that this 'incident' will be taking place Friday night?"

"Yes…that is what Dr. Stanhope said."

"I'm sure that you realize that you will be staying here with us for the rest of your life…here for the next few days and then somewhere …less pleasant."

"Of course…I just hope that if this information helps, in any way at all, you'll remember that I brought it too you voluntarily?"

The general paused before answering. "That fact will be noted. Now, you'll be accompanying the guards who will be in here shortly. They will be taking you to a detention cell" she said as she lifted her phone to her ear. "Elizabeth…please send in my guards…there is someone here who needs an escort. Also, please contact Major Casey and Agent Walker…inform them that I need to speak to their team as soon as possible." Placing the phone back in it's cradle, Diane Beckman picked the report back up and started at the first page. 'I really hope Bartowski can tell me that this report is bullshit…' she said to herself as she waited for her aide to set up the video conference with Team Intersect.

-00—0—00—0-0—0—

Chuck and Sarah were seated at the table in front of the monitor while Casey was standing behind them…a little off to the side. Chuck had just given Sarah a pez from his Yoda pez dispenser and was getting ready to offer one to Casey when the General suddenly appeared and cleared her throat.

"Good afternoon boys and girl…if you're done handing out candy, Mr. Bartowski, maybe we can get this meeting underway. I called this meeting with the hope that the Intersect can clear up a disturbing item that has been brought to my attention." Holding up her hand with the report in it, she continued, "we may have an incredibly huge problem. If there is any truth to this report…and this threat is real…even if only 1% of the threat materializes…the world will be changed forever."

Chuck , Sarah and Casey exchanged bewildered glances…not sure what was going on. They all were pretty sure that Beckman didn't have a sense of humor…at least not when it came to work. Casey was the first to put voice to what they all were thinking. "General…ma'am…what exactly is going on?"

" Major…team…a woman by the name of Beatrice Cooksey has turned herself into us…"

"General" Chuck interrupted, "…that woman has strong ties to Fulcrum."

"Yes, Mr. Bartowski…she claims to be one of five 'Elders' who oversee an organization who are calling themselves, 'The Ring'. The General fell silent when she noticed Chuck having a second flash in as many minutes. She planned to wait for the Intersect to recover before continuing and almost thirty seconds passed before Chuck groaned and allowed his head to drop into his hands. "Mr. Bartowski?" the General asked, a small amount of concern evident in her voice.

"Uh…sorry General…that one hurt…a lot!" Chuck said as he began massaging his temples. "You were saying?"

"Yes…this woman claims that a scientist who worked for The Ring, doing Intersect related research has developed a program that she claims will kill 99.99% of all men who watch it. She also claims to have put together a teams of fellow scientists and that they have 'hi-jacked' 95% of all of the satellites that broadcast television programming. This report in my hand says that this group plans to download this program beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard time, this Friday night."

"General…" Chuck asked, "…do you have this scientist's name?"

"Dr. Rena Stanhope." The General answered.

Chuck screamed in pain as soon as the flash began. Sarah immediately slid closer to him and watched as his eyes rolled back in his head before he toppled to the side, away from her position. Like a puppet who's strings had been cut, Chuck landed on the floor with a thump. Sarah was out of her chair and had Chuck's head cradled in her lap before Casey could even move.

"Chuck?.." Sarah said with concern and urgency in her voice. "Chuck…please…" she pleaded, hoping for some response as she gently brushed the curls from his forehead. Leaning her head down, she put an ear to his chest…feeling a huge sense of relief upon hearing his steady heartbeat.

"Major Casey…Agent Walker…how is the asset?"

Sarah's head shot up and she glared at the monitor. "His name is Chuck!" she almost yelled.

"Agent…watch your tone. I'm very aware of his name…now, how is he?"

While Sarah and the General exchanged glares, Casey watched as Chuck's eyes started to flutter and then slowly open.

"Ow…that fucking hurt!" Chuck mumbled as he struggled to sit up.

"What was that, Mr. Bartowski?" the general asked, one eyebrow sitting much higher than the other.

"Uh…ma'am…uh…i…uh…said 'that really hurt', ma'am."

"Of course that's what you said" the general replied with slight smile. "…is there something you wish too add?"

"General" Chuck started, sounding very worried, "…if this Dr. Stanhope is claiming that she can kill with her program, we really need to take her very seriously. Everything in the Intersect suggests that she has the intelligence to do what she claims. She worked on the original Intersect team and Orion removed her from the project because he thought she was unstable."

"Is there anything else that might help us, Mr. Bartowski?"

"Sorry General, no. Everything else contained in that flash was technical…and there was a lot of that…man, does my head hurt! I'm sorry but there wasn't anything that might lead us to her."

"Alright team, I'll speak with Miss Cooksey again and see if she can be of any help. In the meantime Mr. Bartowski, do you have any idea of how they could 'hi-jack' all of those satellites?"

"General…I honestly don't have a clue. Once this headache subsides a little, I'll start doing some research. If I can figure anything out, I promise that you will be the first person I call."

Major Casey…Agent Walker…please help Mr. Bartowski in anyway that you can" and with that the video conference ended.

"C'mon Chuck" Sarah said as she helped him to his feet, "…let's get you some aspirin and if you'd like, I'll give you a back rub…if you think that might help."

Letting himself be pulled to his feet, he offered a smile, "Well, it certainly couldn't hurt" he said as he looked into her eyes.

Casey just grunted somewhere behind them.

-00—00-0-0—00-0-

Dr. Rena Stanhope looked down at her watch, noting that it was two minutes until eight o'clock. Looking across the room to the other members of her team, she smiled. "It's time to launch the program" she said to no one in particular.

"I thought we were going to launch on Friday?" one woman asked.

"We were but I've decided to accelerate our time table. Everything is ready so we're going two days early. The sooner we start fixing this mess, the better. Alright ladies…here we go…five…four…three…two…one." And with a simple key stroke, Dr. Rena Stanhope changed the course of human history!

TO BE CONTINUED?

That's entirely up to y'all. Please review...good or bad...they all help. JT