I've been trying to shorten the chapters of this story. The next three chapters were originally only going to be one chapter. As it turns out, I could have split it up into four. I guess this is what happens when you work on a loose outline of your story. But I hope the Charah is good. :-)

As always, please leave feedback. A few kind words never hurt. Even unkind words don't hurt, although I admit they're not quite as nice as kind words. But hey, you took the time to read this; you can leave whatever words you want.

710 Freeway, Los Angeles
September 15, 2010
10:55 AM

Chuck and Sarah continued to stare at the unconscious man on the stretcher in shock. The same man, who died 11 months ago in an explosion while taking out a Ring facility to save them, was alive.

"What's going on? I thought he was dead." Casey glanced back from the driver's seat, still not believing Chuck's flash.

"Apparently, he got better. A lot better." Chuck couldn't get over how different Jimmy looked. "I have to say it: death REALLY agrees with him."

"Casey, the hospital," Sarah quickly spoke up. "Contact Devon."

Casey pulled his mobile phone off the adapter. "On it." He called Devon Woodcomb's mobile phone. "Devon, it's Casey. We have a security issue with the incoming patient. Everybody has to stay out of the examination room, including you. For your own protection. We'll bring our own doctor in." Casey hung up the phone and dials the NSA field office to send a physician to Westside Medical Center.

Sarah found a piece of paper in Jimmy's closed hand. She gently pried his fingers open and unfolded it.

"Why would this be in his hand?" She looked over the piece of paper. "There are two numbers written. One of the numbers is 213. The other looks like a Social Security Number."

"Let's see." Chuck examined the piece of paper. He typed the SSN into the computer. "That number isn't being used. Why would he write L.A.'s area code and a Social Security Number that doesn't exist?" Sarah shrugged.

Chuck looked at the piece of paper intently, and then he suddenly had a thought. "Wait. 776-24-3612. That number doesn't exist. But what if the 213 was the way to sequence the parts of the Social Security Number? Casey, does the number 24-776-3612 mean anything?"

"A GPS transponder code."

"Could that have been Jimmy's car?"

"No, that sequence is used for smaller items, like putting a tracker in a pen or a credit card."

"Jimmy must have been tracking that in his car when all hell broke loose," Sarah deduced. "Casey, can surveillance be set up on the location of that signal?"

"I'll call it in."

Chuck was shaking his head. If it wasn't for the flash, he would never believe the man lying down in front of him was Jimmy. It would not only appear that was Jimmy alive, he was on some sort of mission.

"What happened to him? How did the CIA even know about Jimmy? They didn't know where we were."

"The phone call," Casey replied as he finished relaying the transponder information to the local NSA office.

"What phone call?"

"After you took me outside and ran back in that day, Slade tossed me his phone…no wait, the NSA phone we gave him…and told me to call the fire department. They must have intercepted and pinpointed the location of the call.

"He said not to let anybody in the building because it wouldn't exist anymore." Casey shook his head. For whatever reason, he never put two and two together. "Slade always intended to blow up the building after getting us out. Beckman must have gotten them to retrieve Slade."

"My God." Sarah looked down at the unconscious Jimmy, not believing he thought that far ahead 11 months ago. "Beckman was going to put him into an underground bunker. She must have changed her mind when he decided to do that. But we never got a chance to warn him."

"I think he already knew," Chuck replied as the realization of what happened started to sink in. "He talked about it on the way back from dropping off my father. He never believed the CIA would let him become an agent or live his own life. When you two were kidnapped, he wanted to get you back as much as I did. But he also knew The Ring would never stop coming after us if they thought he was alive. He even said so while we were trying to get you out. It wasn't just a rescue. He wanted to make sure they never went after us again. And they haven't."

Westside Medical Center
September 15, 2010
11:10 AM

Per Devon's directions, the ambulance pulled up to a loading dock at the back of the hospital. Casey jumped out of the driver's seat and went up on the dock. He opened the rear doors of the ambulance. He reached in to grab the stretcher as Chuck and Sarah lifted and pushed it on their end to get the stretcher on the raised platform of the dock. They pulled the sheets on the stretcher up to cover Jimmy's face and obscure it from any onlookers as they entered a back hallway in the hospital. They wheeled the stretcher down a hallway and turned right, finding the examination room Devon prepared. As they brought the stretcher into the room, a 40-something woman wearing a doctor's lab coat approached them. She showed Casey her ID to verify she was from the doctor from the NSA. She accompanied Casey into the examination room. A police officer stood guard outside the room.

"Dr. Stravinsky, Agents Walker and Bartowski," Casey gave short introductions as Dr. Stravinsky walked over to the stretcher to examine Jimmy.

"What happened?" The doctor began to check the wounds that Sarah bandaged.

"Auto accident on the 710. His car flipped over an embankment."

Dr. Stravinsky checked Jimmy's eyes to see if they respond, and then she checked for any other damage. "Well, other than the cuts and possible head trauma, he looks to be in very good shape. He's lucky this is all he came away with in that accident," Dr. Stravinsky's non-committal assessment of Jimmy's condition was a contrast to the relief Chuck and Sarah were feeling. It was quickly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Casey. Sarah. It's Devon. I think we might have a problem."

Sarah and Casey looked at each other. Sarah went to the door. "I'll meet you down the hall in a minute, Devon."

"You got it."

Sarah turned to Casey. "What the hell is he talking about?"

"We're fine in here as long as nobody tries to enter. Go find out what he wants."

Sarah quickly exited. Fortunately, two other police officers had cordoned off the hallway to keep anybody else away. She found Devon near the elevators and took him further down the hall, far away from everybody.

"What's going on?"

"Whoever you have, Sarah, all of you better get out of here quickly. Ellie is on her way. She wants to know what's going on. Every TV station has their helicopter over the hospital. Their reporters are probably about 15 or 20 minutes away."

"Dammit. How did they find out? We were careful in driving over here."

"You probably were. Maybe it was a process of elimination. They watched the hospitals and matched police chatter about who was in any ambulance that was arriving over the last half-hour. There was no communication over the radio regarding your ambulance, so they guessed this was the one."

Sarah thought for a moment. Since it sounded like Jimmy was OK, perhaps this wasn't as bad of a situation as they thought. 20 minutes might be enough. That is, if Devon could convince Ellie to go home before she saw any of them.

"OK, this was going to happen anyway. Contact the hospital spokesperson. Have them release a statement saying the person died from their injuries in the rollover accident, and the name cannot be released pending notification of their next of kin."

Sarah gave it one last thought before deciding that was the best course of action. The media never announced a name without the family knowing first. In the case of Jimmy, Chuck, Casey, and she were all he had for a family. Between the bus rescue and the spectacular crash, that should be more than enough of a story to satisfy television ratings.

"When Ellie arrives, tell her whatever you have to so that she goes home. Don't let her think for one second we're here. Once she leaves, we'll sneak the patient out."

"Got it."

"Thanks for your help, Devon."

"Anytime, Sarah. You know I got your back and little bro's. Must be one special person you're trying to protect in there."

A smile came across her face. "You have no idea how special."

Sarah turned and headed back to the examination room. Even though this would now be the second time someone she thought to be dead returned, it was still a situation that was almost impossible to comprehend. She had the benefit of hindsight now, but when Bryce returned from the dead, it caused a tremendous conflict within her. Not only could she not sort out the fact that Bryce was protecting Chuck instead of betraying her, there was still a part of her that was in love with Bryce while another part of her had developed feelings for Chuck. It took her a long time to come to peace with the decision to stay with Chuck instead of going with Bryce. In the end it was the right decision, but it caused her to question every aspect of her life and the choices she made.

Jimmy's return was much simpler but no less emotional. To say Jimmy was a unique individual was a gross understatement. Sarah never met anybody as skilled and courageous yet so oblivious to their talents. Even Chuck was happy to boast of his skills from time to time. But a look into Jimmy's past revealed he was never one to receive trust or praise; typically the opposite was true. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey learned to put their trust in him, and it saved their lives. The day of Jimmy's funeral was one of the worst days of Sarah's life. Every hurt she experienced in her life, the hurt of losing her mother, the hurt of her father leaving her, both of Bryce's funerals, every failed mission she encountered, and the hurt by every person she ever trusted and then left her came out that day. The irony was not lost on her that she spent all of that time keeping Chuck alive, and then he would do the same for her by a simple act of holding her tight and not letting her go. It was what she needed right then and there. Another person had left her, and this person did it so she and Chuck would live.

She shook her head clear, wondering why she thought about all of that. Too much time as a "glass is half-empty" type, she surmised. There was no point focusing on the past. The bottom line was Jimmy was still alive, and it would seem that their hopes for him, becoming an agent and changing his life, worked out far better than she could have imagined.

Sarah opened the door to the hospital room as Dr. Stravinsky finished her examination of Jimmy.

"If he complains of dizziness or ringing in his ears, contact me, and we'll arrange a CT scan for him. Otherwise, he should be just fine. He'll probably come around within an hour or two. Keep the activity to a minimum for 48 hours."

"Thanks, doc." Casey shook Dr. Stravinsky's hand, and the doctor departed.

"I hope he can come around sooner," Sarah said with concern as she relayed the information Awesome provided her. "There are TV helicopters all over the area, and we have maybe 15 minutes to get him out of here before reporters show up."

"15 minutes? That's not a lot of time," Chuck said as the worry in his voice rose. "We better start preparing how to sneak him out."

"Not yet. Ellie is on her way as well, and she can't see any of us here."

"Oh, good. I was afraid this wasn't complicated enough."

"We'll prepare for both instances." Casey began to formulate a strategy. "Once Ellie is gone, we'll bring him to the morgue in the basement in a body bag and go right past the cameras to sell the point he's dead. That might buy us some time. If he becomes conscious before Ellie is gone, perhaps we can slip him out some other way. Maybe steal some janitor's uniform. Hell, nobody should recognize him."

"OK, sounds like a plan. I just hope this didn't screw up whatever mission he was on."

"I'm sure the surveillance team can pick up whomever Jimmy was chasing and give us the information," Sarah replied. "But it does seem odd they would have someone with so little field experience on what looks like a fairly dangerous mission."

"I'm sure he knows the answer to that. I just hope he can tell us."

Behind them, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey heard the sheets rustling on the stretcher. They turned around, nervously staring at Jimmy. His head started to move back and forth. His eyes opened slowly. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and saw the three of them looking at him.

"Aaah, hell. Can I screw this up any worse?"

Chuck gaped at him. "Is..is it..?"

Jimmy's eyes went wide. His head darted back and forth. "Are there any…?" He mouthed the question and pointed to the room, wondering if there were any cameras or microphones

"No, no cameras or microphones," Chuck replied.

"Then, yes, it's me."

Chuck and Sarah continued to look at him in total shock. Jimmy suddenly bolted up on the stretcher. "Wait. That piece of paper I had?"

"We found it, don't worry," Sarah reassured him, gently pushing him back down on the stretcher. "There is a surveillance team being set up right now, and they're tracking the signal."

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God for that. Maybe I can still salvage this debacle."

He noticed Chuck and Sarah ready to burst with questions, but neither seemed to know where to start.

"OK, just pick one question and go with it."

"Why aren't you dead?" Casey asked with all of the brutality the question intended.

"Apparently, I suck at it."

Chuck and Sarah stopped their evil glares at Casey and turned back to Jimmy. "But, what happened? How did you survive? Why do you look…well, different?" Chuck's mind was racing too quickly to formulate more thoughtful questions.

"I wish I knew. I thought I was dead. I wake up I don't know how many days or weeks later in what looked like a very fancy hospital room, and the first thing someone told me was to go back to bed. I was too weak to argue about it. I think I had about 10 different surgeries to repair practically everything on me, but I don't even know if that count is correct. I was hooked up to an IV until last January and couldn't eat solid food until March. Apparently blowing yourself up is a good way to lose weight. Although I'm guessing I won't make dime one off of the idea.

"After that, they started training me. I picked up on a lot of things quickly. Someone came up with the idea to have me take the final exams or exercises first, then adjust the training accordingly. We managed to shave 2 months of training off by doing that. I didn't need weapons training, apart from any specialized arms the average civilian never gets to see. I aced all of the mathematics, computer, and science-related exams, of course. History, psychology, and combat and survival courses took up most of the training time. They also had me doing some freelance computer work, since their regular guy left to join the private sector, and they couldn't get anybody up to speed faster. Then I had my cover job. I've been averaging 20-hour days since March. Although it wasn't all bad. I didn't have to do the cover job on Mondays and Tuesdays."

Sarah was surprised. "Wait. You've been training for only six months, and they sent you out into the field already?"

"Well, it's kind of a special case. I don't think General Beckman wanted to, but she didn't have a lot of options. For the last four weeks…"

"Hold on," Casey cut him off. "Save that for when we're back at Castle. First order of business is to sneak you out of here. There's media all over the place. And Ellie can't see any of us in here."

"Yikes, that woman is part bloodhound. How are we supposed to get past her?"

"Devon's ready to intercept her. Actually, let's see if he sent her on her way." Casey pulled out his mobile phone and called Devon. Their conversation was quick and muffled. "She already left."

"If she's gone, we can keep the original plan in place and put Jimmy in a body bag," Sarah noted.

"Geez, can't I enjoy being alive for a few minutes?" Jimmy had a trouble-causing smirk on his face. "If I knew you were going to do that, I would have just stayed dead."

"What I wouldn't give to help you with that right now," Casey snarled.

There was a knock at the door. Jimmy quickly ducked into the bathroom as Devon passed them a canvas body bag. Casey and Sarah laid it out on the stretcher. Chuck opened the bathroom door to let Jimmy back out. He got on the stretcher and placed himself inside the bag.

"OK, tap once if you need me to stop breathing and tap twice when I can again. And if Chuck quotes The Karate Kid, smack him for me."

Sarah suppressed a giggle. She had seen that movie and had to smack Chuck once or twice already when he and Morgan got a little too animated playing videogames while she was writing reports.

"I may do that whether or not he mentions the body bag."

"Whatever makes you happy."

Jimmy put his hands at his sides and remained rigid inside the bag. Sarah zipped it closed, and Casey attached the belts. Chuck and Sarah wheeled the stretcher towards the elevators. 10 feet down, a dozen photographers and video crews were taking pictures. Sarah quietly tapped Jimmy, who held his breath. They got around a corner where Casey already had the elevator open. The doors closed, and Sarah tapped Jimmy twice to let him breathe again. They headed to the basement, since the media would expect a corpse to be taken there. They wheeled him inside and locked the door behind them. Sarah unzipped the bag, and Chuck helped Jimmy out of it.

"How long before we can leave?" Jimmy asked.

"Just have to wait for the media to take off," replied Casey. "We have a car on its way."

"Wait." Chuck recalled something Jimmy said earlier. "You said you also had a cover job? What were you doing?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes and hung his head. He was turning beet red with embarrassment. "Do I have to tell you?"

Chuck's eyes went wide with amusement. "Oh, you have to. This sounds too good. What was it?" Jimmy didn't respond apart from shaking his head and turning redder. Chuck fashioned a German accent. "Do not be foolish. Ve have vays oof makin' you tahk."

Jimmy looked to Sarah for some sympathy but got none. He dug into his wallet and found a picture. He handed it to Chuck. Chuck and Sarah stared at it. The picture was of a Las Vegas show with a half-dozen performers made to look like legendary singers.

"No…" Chuck's eyes went wide and the grin on his face threatened to wrap completely around his head.

"Yeah…" Jimmy started to gaze at the body bag again, thinking how comfortable it looked all of a sudden.

"You were in a musical revue as Elvis?" Chuck and Sarah doubled-over laughing. Jimmy lay back on the stretcher, wanting to disappear.

"Wow. That Wienerlicious cover doesn't seem so bad anymore." Sarah was tearing up from laughing so hard.

Jimmy looked up to see Casey with a smirk on his face. Jimmy was incredulous. "Et tu, Casey? Thanks a frickin' lot! I got booed off the stage the first week! I only knew 5 or 6 Elvis songs, and I wasn't given any time to rehearse."

"Easy, Jimmy, easy. Relax," Chuck calmed him. "I mean, you're all shook up." He laughed even harder. Sarah finally calmed down.

"Oh, Chuck, come on. That is so mean. Don't be cruel." He fell to the floor laughing hysterically while she hung on to the stretcher to prevent her from doing the same thing. Jimmy turned to Casey and suddenly had a newfound sympathy for him.

"So this is what you get to deal with on a daily basis? No wonder you're grumpy."

Not for the first time since being in Burbank, Casey was relieved that the phone interrupted them. He answered it and acknowledged the message. "The car is here, and all the reporters left. The hospital released the statement and didn't take questions. We can leave now."

As they left, Jimmy wished quietly that he had reunited with Chuck, Sarah, and Casey under much different circumstances. Watching the two of them laughing their heads off as they left certainly cemented that hope.

Castle Underground Facility
September 15, 2010
2:00 PM

"So why did General Beckman send you out into the field?"

Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Jimmy were gathered around the main table in Castle. They had checked on the status of the surveillance team, who reported that Alexander was in a rundown motel near the airport. They were able to intercept the signal on the cell phone and room phone, so any conversation Alexander had would be recorded. It was now a matter of waiting and listening.

Jimmy wasn't sure how much of the story he should tell. He was afraid of making a bad situation worse. But there were only three people in the entire world he trusted, and they were sitting in front of him right now. They also pulled him out of that bad situation and kept this mission going. They deserved to know.

"About four weeks ago, I came across several files that needed decoding from an IP address that nobody recognized. The encryption was a 1,024 bit cipher, which meant it had to be pretty important. I got to work on it. I got about 50% of it cracked, but I've been having trouble ever since. Unfortunately, being a few years behind on computer programming was the least of my troubles.

"It turns out I had my hands on a series of bank accounts from several institutions in Europe, Asia, a couple in the Caymans, and the odd one here and there. In total, the accounts I had totaled over $2 billion. And these weren't exactly the types of accounts that the average greedy American businessperson worries about."

"Terrorist funds?" Sarah asked.

"That was my guess, but what I don't have are the names or groups to attach to the accounts. That's the part that still needs decrypting. I'm sure you can imagine what value they would have, other than the obvious fact that $2 billion is a nice chunk of change."

The three sat back in their chairs. Jimmy pulled quite a first assignment. "There's probably a few hundred organizations that would like to get their hands on those accounts for the sake of sponsoring activities," Sarah replied.

"Hell, half the governments in the world would love to bump you off and take credit for finding the money," Casey contemplated. "The funds are probably worth 100 times that in political capital. Enough to get you elected or keep you in office."

"Very true, and very true," Jimmy replied. "I contacted Beckman because I was suspicious someone might have been trying to make a move on the files from inside of Nellis Air Force Base, so she had me set up a little sting operation. I just didn't think it would actually work. I kept a memory stick in the computer while I was working on the encryption, and then I put it away in my desk every night. Of course, this one had a GPS tracker in it. Sure enough, one of the maintenance crew took it, and I traced it out here to L.A. I was to work completely alone on this to keep the temptation down of others knowing about the $2 billion. Unfortunately, my training seemed to go right out the window the minute I set foot in this town. Stupid bastard had me caught within five minutes. I somehow managed to get away, and well, you know the rest of it."

"You have to quit blaming yourself for this." Chuck was starting to see some of the old Jimmy seep through the new frame. "She sends you out there half-trained and expects you to hit a home run on the first pitch? That's too much for anybody to ask."

"I was too hung up on following orders and resolving this by myself. The first thing I should have done when I hit town was walk into Zork or the Orange Orange. It certainly wasn't what I wanted, just burst in to say 'oh, by the way, I'm still alive'. Obviously I pooched that one anyway."

Jimmy shook his head, disgusted with himself. "Look, I'll just get the surveillance information once it comes in and get back on the case. You guys have done more than your fair share on this. I still have a shot at catching this prick, thanks to all of you. But I'm supposed to be doing this alone. I'm in enough trouble as it is, and I don't want to drag you down with me."

That pronouncement was met with angry stares by Chuck, Sarah, and even Casey.

"No, that is not happening," Sarah answered with a stern rebuke. "We're not leaving you out there alone. This never should have been a one-man operation, and they certainly shouldn't have put it all on your shoulders with so little training. We're helping you, whether you like it or not."

Jimmy was ready to argue the point, but he could see from the looks in their faces that it would be pointless. He gave a slight smile. "I better get used to the fact someone actually gives a rat's ass about me?"

"Damn right."

Even though he only knew them for two weeks a year ago, he knew enough not to argue with either Sarah or Casey. The look on Chuck's face indicated that Jimmy wouldn't win the argument against him, either.

Castle Underground Facility
September 15, 2010
8:30 PM

The rest of the day passed without incident. Alexander never made any calls or left the motel. The surveillance team would contact Casey the second they had any information. In the meantime, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey continued with their cover assignments. Chuck had to go to one of his customer sites to handle an issue with two of the computers, and Sarah had to deal with a city inspector checking on the Orange Orange. Jimmy spent the day alone in Castle, alternating between writing up reports regarding the mission thus far and reading various online newspapers or fooling around on other websites.

It was odd how this was the most time he had alone in the last 6 months. It felt weird to actually miss that time to himself, given how many years he spent completely alone. He couldn't even comprehend how much had happened between the first day of training back in March and now. He was always doing something, and it was rare that he got even 30 minutes of free time in a day. Most days were spent getting up at 5 AM and taking a two-mile run before standard physical training. Granted, that run started as a quarter-mile struggle to walk, but he eventually worked his way up to a full run. It ended with a half-mile swim in the pool in the Phys. Ed. building at Nellis around midnight every night before getting to bed at 1 AM. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when the show was dark, the swim would be around 10 PM and he'd try to get two extra hours of sleep.

It still took a lot of convincing to make him realize he was much thinner, far more physically fit, and even younger-looking. Perhaps it was a case of being too immersed in it to have an unvarnished opinion. He did have to admit that the two-mile run every morning got easier and easier as time went by; he had been contemplating stretching it to a three-mile run lately. However, cracking the encryption of these accounts started to occupy more and more of his time. Physically, that was better than all the kicks and punches he took to the face and body for the three months of martial-arts training he endured. 8 hours a day he spent working on that. From 8 in the morning until noon, and again from 2 until 6, he practiced and practiced until he got it right. It certainly didn't come naturally to him, but some of the instructors started nicknaming him "Rocky" because he was always able to take a punch and keep coming back for more, much like the movie icon. Eventually, he became quite skilled at the many different disciplines. He wasn't sure how skilled he was, but his performance earlier that day against those 6 thugs would indicate he wasn't half bad.

He was preparing one of the bunks in the holding cells to sleep in when he heard a knock. Chuck was behind him and looked a little frazzled.

"Hey there. Apparently your cover job involves just as much work and fewer panties being thrown at you."

Chuck had to laugh. "It has its moments. One of our customers was not 100% thrilled with the setup today. Of course, spilling an orange juice inside the computer tends to make it malfunction on occasion."

"Ouch. There's another two grand out of the public trough. But if it makes you feel better, I'm still ahead of you. I cost the taxpayers a pretty nice car today. Leather seats, satellite radio, all the little goodies that 23-year-old techie threw in there. I certainly had a banner day."

Chuck looked down with guilt. "Yeah, we shouldn't have teased you like we did. We were kicking you when you were down…"

"Oh, don't even sweat that. It's kind of funny when you think about it. They actually bought me three different costumes over the 5 months I was in that show because I kept losing weight. They were $15,000 apiece. But at least my singing improved, so it wasn't a complete waste of the taxpayers' money, right?"

"So what have you been doing while I was fixing a computer's addiction to vitamin C?"

"The local newspaper and TV station websites have the car crash and the bus all over the news. They're trying to make up some BS about me causing the bus to go out of control in the first place, which isn't all that far from the truth, really. Son of a bitch just kept firing at me and hit that pothole. I must be the only person in the world who can pull a rescue like that and still think I made a bad decision."

"Yeah, but that's you. It's pretty ironic you're as smart as you are and yet still seem to think with your guts first. All balls and no brains."

"That's me alright. To be fair, I may not have tried it a year ago. I seriously doubt I could have made that leap from the car to the bus with all that weight."

"I'm curious: exactly how much weight did you lose?"

"The doctor two weeks ago said my count was 180 pounds lost. I could have lost even more, but with all of the training and exercise, I was starting to pack muscle onto my frame. I actually dropped a third of that weight while in the hospital being operated on all the time and living on IVs. The rest came off the old-fashioned way."

Chuck let out a low whistle. "That is amazing. I knew you had it in you, but even this is a shock."

Jimmy was quiet a moment. His voice was much softer. "Well, I couldn't let you, Sarah, and Casey down."

"What are you talking about?"

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. "Beckman said the reason they pulled me out of there was that you and I helped them pull the fangs out of The Ring with all that information we discovered. She also said how you three tried to convince her I could be an agent. Nobody has ever done anything like that for me in my life. I…I didn't want to disappoint all of you."

Chuck sat down next to him. "You realize that's impossible, right? Disappointing us? You never have and you never will. You certainly earned your way through the last year. You look like a completely different person. I wouldn't have believed it was you if I didn't have that flash in the ambulance."

"Yeah, but I've been screwing this up since getting out here. Helluva way to start my new career."

"Please. You haven't screwed anything up. I don't think you've screwed up. I doubt Sarah thinks you screwed up."

"Casey thinks I screwed up."

"Casey IS a screw-up."

Jimmy smiled. "Good point."

"You know, for all that has changed on the outside, there's still too much of the old you on the inside. The guy who was kind and forgiving to everybody but himself. I don't have a lot of experience as an agent; only a year and change officially. But you gotta figure out how to learn from your mistakes and move forward instead of browbeating yourself over and over again. You'll do much better."

"Not the easiest task in the world, I have to admit."

"I know. I've done it myself. I've lent Sarah an ear when she needed to get a bad mission off her mind. By the way, you were completely right."

"About what?"

"You said what she needed most in the world was a hug. You said she needed to let go of her emotions. And it happened. I held her for a long time after your funeral when she needed someone."

"What?" Jimmy was horrified. He buried his face in his hands. "Oh, God. I didn't want that to be the reason why. I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt either of you. I feel like a complete jerk."

"No, Jimmy. You were right. It took us a long time to recover from that, but we got through it together. We ended up closer than we ever were."

Jimmy turned and gave Chuck an odd glance. "You actually grew closer? The only way you two could be closer is to be surgically attached to each other."

Chuck gave a slight laugh. "OK, maybe you're right. But our relationship became much stronger. We trusted each other even more. And of course, there was the extra added bonus that we were still alive because of what you did. Even better, you're still alive."

Jimmy stayed silent but nodded his head in acknowledgment of Chuck.

"You'll be OK here, right? This is probably the best place for you without Ellie walking into our apartment unexpected. That's a conversation I don't want to have."

"Yeah, no problem. It'll be nice to get a full night of sleep for once."

Chuck gave him a big hug. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you again. I'm just glad it wasn't too long or even never."

"It's good to see you too, Chuck. Thanks for all of your help today. I needed it."

"Always glad to help. We'll get here early in the morning. Get some rest."

"Will do, boss," Jimmy said with a smile.

Chuck exited and headed for his car.

Echo Park
September 15, 2010
11:00 PM

Chuck finished brushing his teeth and entered the bedroom. Sarah was lying on the bed in her robe. She was reading a novel that she started a long time ago, but missions lately had pushed reading it back on the priority list. The CIA took Chuck, Sarah, and Casey off the active list for 2 weeks following Jimmy's death…or what they originally assumed was his death. Since then, they slowly worked themselves back to a normal routine. However, normal was a bit of a relative term, since the work Chuck and Jimmy did in finding the Ring facilities throughout the country weakened that organization. Scores of agents were able to escape the raids conducted on the Ring facilities in New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago. However, a well-coordinated raid on the storage facilities in Nebraska landed enough weapons and equipment to arm a small country. Many of the Ring's overseas contacts were cut off as a result of the raid. It had only been within the last 4 months that The Ring started making waves again. So far, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey had only been involved in two operations involving The Ring, and both of those were coordinated efforts with the NSA. They were never singled out for attack.

Chuck sat on the bed by Sarah, who decided to give up on the novel again. She bookmarked the page and put it away. Chuck looked at her, never tiring of gazing into those sparkling eyes.

"Sorry I took so long. The problem with our client went into overtime, and then I went to check on Jimmy."

"Uh-uh," Sarah said playfully. "No excuses. You know the punishment."

"Yeah, I know."

She placed her feet in his lap, and he started to massage them. She lay back on the bed, enjoying Chuck's handiwork.

"Is he OK?"

"He's fine. He's still mad at himself. I swear, he could disarm a nuclear bomb with three seconds to spare and want to kill himself for not disarming it with four seconds to spare."

"I know. But nobody can tell him not to be so critical of himself. He has to learn it on his own. Everybody does. I had to, and it took a long time."

Chuck turned to her with a bemused expression. "You're expecting me to believe that?"

"Yes. I'm not perfect, Chuck. I'm far from it."

"You're a lot closer than most of the people in this world."

Sarah smiled and slid down so she was sitting on Chuck's lap. She wrapped her arms around him. "Well, I don't mean to boast, but I did finally master the art of having good taste in men." She held his face in her hands and gave him a passionate kiss.

"OK, true. There is that." Chuck had a smile on his face as his hands gently caressed Sarah's face while returning her kiss.

She grabbed the back of his head with her hand as her kisses increased in intensity, her tongue darting around inside of his mouth, teasing him. She took his other hand and slid it inside her robe. Chuck was most pleased with what he discovered.

"You're not wearing anything under that robe."

"I know." Her sapphire eyes bore into his with an uncaged passion. As she planted heated kisses along his neck, she could feel his hand slide downward. Her breathing grew shallow and faster as her eyes closed in pleasure.

"And that's why," she moaned as she pushed him down on the bed, desperate to take his clothes off.

Echo Park
September 16, 2010
7:30 AM

That damn phone.

Given that Sarah was still lying on top of Chuck, their bodies pressed against each other, the phone was the last thing she wanted to hear. Unfortunately, this job didn't lend itself to convenience. She reached over to grab it. She noticed Casey's ID.

"What is it?"

"We have Slade's information. The meeting is at 1 PM today."

"Where?"

"Let's just say you'll need a good pair of stilettos."

Sarah hung up the phone. This had the makings of a bad day. She set the alarm on the clock for 9:00 AM and pressed her body into Chuck's. If the rest of the day would be bad, she wanted to enjoy where she was right now for as long as she could.