"So it's Seattle then?"

"Yup. And it's a good thing, Chuck. Seattle has a higher homeless population. We'll blend in better."

"Homeless?"

"I'm sorry to say it Chuck but we're going to be living outdoors till we get the money together. This was a last minute, and fairly low risk trip so Casey and I didn't have time to set up any stashes, and the cash we got off the …" Sarah paused as Chuck looked away, staring fixedly at the seat back in front of him. "The cash that we took from the ambulance will help but won't get us too far. And there's no way I'm touching the one safe house I know about since it's probably been compromised like everything else. I'm just going to have to show you how we hide on a budget. Hey, it could be worse. At least it's not winter."

This earned her a dark look from Chuck before he went back to staring at the seat back. She could see he was about to pull into himself and become the sleepwalker again so she decided to give him a job to do.

"Chuck, keep your eyes open for a Target."

"Target?"

"Or Large Mart ... whatever. I just figured, with the conflict in loyalties ..."

"Oh, the store, right. What do we need?"

"Sleeping bags, backpacks, makeup, clothes, hoodies, hair dye, hydrogen peroxide, semi-perishable food, water …"

It was an extensive list. Sarah had developed it previously when she had been dubious of Beckman and Casey's intentions for Chuck. Back then she hadn't known if she'd be able to follow through with running off and hiding him but the mental exercise had helped her fall asleep when she was up late worrying. She stopped reading off the list as she realized Chuck was no longer listening.

"Sarah, if you think the contact you called might be a Ring agent, then doesn't the Ring have the ambulance now … with the body in it. Couldn't they just alert the police and have a manhunt out for us. If the Ring can infiltrate the CIA, it couldn't be that hard to get us out of police custody after we've been arrested."

Sarah was happy to see that Chuck's brain was still engaged even if he was having difficulty processing everything.

"I thought of that too, but I don't think the Ring wants the kind of attention that a police investigation would bring. Finding two men, stripped of all belongings, posing as EMTs in an ambulance that picked up two mysterious medical emergencies from a flight to Seattle, and a CIA officer's finger prints all over everything … that might bring more than just the local police in on the investigation. I don't think the Ring wants the FBI involved. Just the same, though, let's keep our distance from the local cops or any other authorities."

The bus had reached the termination of its route at a transit center near the Tacoma Community College and across the street from a strip mall. They crossed the street and made the best of their wad of cash at a Value Village and a Fred Meyer, buying supplies for living outdoors and disguising themselves, as well as a few other items.

Sarah quickly devised, wrote, and mailed a coded message in a letter to Beckman, letting her know that they had been abducted but that they had escaped and were on the run. She had to restrain herself from giving any details but thought Beckman should at least know their status. Then they set to making their transformation in the bathroom of a nearby McDonalds. Sarah had expected some resistance from Chuck, first at being shoved into the Ladies' Room and then to her bleaching his hair and eyebrows blond, but he followed along the way a dog does at the vet once they realize there's no escaping.

Thirty minutes later she examined the two of them in the mirror, judging her work. Chuck's shorter, spikier blonde hair and blonde eyebrows changed his look significantly but he was still too recognizable without sunglasses. While the day had been overcast, there had been a few sun breaks so she decided sunglasses weren't out of the question. She looked at his clothes and they appeared to fit the traveling young punk she was going for.

Her look, on the other hand, was drastically different with dark black hair covering half her face, black eyeliner and lipstick, and white foundation. Her black hoody with skull angel, black shorts with silver metal rivets, black and white striped stockings, and black platform soles rounded out the goth-girl she'd become. Seeing the stockings and shoes at the store had actually given her the idea for the outfit but now she had misgivings as she noticed Chuck's eyes darting to her legs every few seconds. The idea was not to make eyes look her way.

They heard a knock and a woman's voice at the door.

"You okay in there?"

"Yeah, fine. I'll be out in just a minute."

Sarah swore under her breath. Too late to change anything now.

They began tossing makeup, clothes, and hair supplies in their packs as quickly as possible.

"There are other people that need to use the bathroom, you know."

"Okay, just a second", then to Chuck, "When we walk out the door, don't stop no matter what, and don't look anyone in the face."

They marched out of the bathroom past two women, one of whom hissed at them, "Oh, disgusting. Get a room, for god's sake" as they headed outside. Sarah laughed at herself.

"Well, that was fun, but I guess we can't really cross off 'having sex in a public bathroom' from the list of things to do before dying."

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. The wound that was their abbreviated relationship was still too fresh for her to casually joke about sex they'd never had. Chuck's answer, however, had none of the bitterness she'd expected.

"Speak for yourself."

Sarah looked at Chuck out of the corner of her eye, trying to suppress her curiosity. He had a smug, lopsided smile on his face but instead of elaborating, he changed the subject.

"Didn't anyone tell these people that summer should involve sun? I don't think I'm looking forward to living out of doors."

The day had become steadily more grey since they'd left the ambulance.

"Well, if I haven't lost my touch we shouldn't have to do it for very long …"

It was Chuck's turn to look at her with curiosity.

"… but first things first, we need to get to Seattle."

Chuck looked across the street at the transit center and Sarah followed his gaze.

"Well, I guess that's our best option at the moment. Though it's exactly the kind of place the Ring would be surveilling by now."

Sarah was even more hesitant as the place looked nearly empty at the moment, but the alternatives to public transportation had their own hazards and she didn't want to deal with them if she didn't have to. To assuage her worries, she had them split up to avoid fitting the profile the Ring would be looking for. She sent Chuck across the street first, watching for faces or license plates that would cause him to flash. Seeing him sit down at one of the bus shelters, looking so isolated in the empty expanse of pavement, only increased her unease. She followed, crossing the street at the next light, and was suddenly extremely conscious of the way her legs looked in the striped stockings.

What the hell was I thinking? I look like a damn beacon.

She made her way to a board with bus route and Sounder train information and began working out an itinerary. A moment later, without making a sound to warn her, a man appeared beside her, perusing the schedules.

Uh oh.

She immediately looked over her shoulder and saw Chuck making a beeline towards her.

Did he flash on this guy? Did I miss his signal?

Looking at the man standing next to her, she realized he was not examining the schedules at all but instead was watching Chuck in the reflection of the glass covering the board. She waved Chuck off with a cutting motion at her hip but she knew it was too late. This was an agent, and he had just made Chuck, if not her as well. She needed to distract him long enough for Chuck to get clear before he signaled anyone.

"Hey baby, you wanna a date?"

The man didn't even look her way and kept his eyes on Chuck. Sarah signaled Chuck to get clear, hoping he saw her.

"Hey, I'm talking to you sugar. You're standing at my shelter like you're looking for something. You need some company?"

"Not interested."

"Well then keep on moving 'cause you're fucking with my business."

Sarah looked out at the mostly empty transit center and regretted her words but the man actually turned and began walking away. A slight hesitation in his step was the only warning she got. His hand disappeared from his side and reached across his body.

Shoulder holster!

She closed on him, just as he was about to turn on her, and slashed at the back of his knees with her foot causing him to collapse backwards onto her. Clamping her left arm around his neck and locking with her right, she squeezed his carotid artery, holding on with everything she had. The man bucked her off the ground, slamming her into the pavement and crushing the air out of her lungs, but she held on. Then she saw the agent's gun in his right hand, a moment from blowing her kneecap off.

Her instinct was to release the man and roll away but she held on instead, rolling them both sideways. The 9mm fired and she felt a hundred tiny hot needles stinging her knee and calf. She continued rolling, her only hope of causing the man to miss and she heard him fire again. This time he missed outright and she felt the agent's struggles begin to waiver. He fired wildly once more, and then lost consciousness, the gun dropping from his hand. As she rolled the man aside, she looked to where she'd last seen Chuck, to find him on the ground with two men restraining him.

No! Damn it, he must not have flashed.

Sarah grabbed the pistol the agent had dropped and slid it into her hoody as she sprinted across the pavement towards her partner, her sore ankle and the stinging pain in her leg completely forgotten. Hearing her footsteps one agent turned to confront her, aiming a pistol shaped weapon with an oversized square barrel.

Taser!

Sarah let her feet slip out from under her a moment before the agent fired, the wires just sailing over her head. The upward momentum of her feet added to her kick as her foot slammed into the man's chin, snapping his head back then forward again in a nearly comic mimicry of a bobble head doll. He dropped in a heap, unconscious. Her pack cushioned her fall, allowing her to flip to her feet. As she turned to square off with the second agent her body exploded in pain. She dropped to the ground with her muscles locked in a rigor that wouldn't release, an involuntary gurgling cry in her throat. Apparently the other man had a taser as well.

A moment later her muscles relaxed and she lay unable to move, her breath returning in shallow gasps. Through blurred vision she could see the man pulling zip ties from a pocket and knew that in a moment, escape would not be possible. Then she saw Chuck's body reanimate, kicking the agent's feet out from under him. As the man fell, Chuck's legs pin wheeled and he brought one foot down hard on the agent's solar plexus. The agent's breath left him with an "oof" and he curled into a protective fetal position. Chuck finished the man's consciousness for the next few moments with a fist to the back of his head.

As she had seen so many times recently, the handwringing nerdiness had transformed into stern, disciplined action. Chuck dropped to his knees at Sarah's side, threw one of her arms over his shoulder, and pulled her to her feet.

"Sarah, you okay?"

"Yeah. Don't let go." Her voice was hoarse and weak. "Need to get out of the open, quick."

Chuck grabbed his pack with his other hand and dragged it and Sarah towards a black Crown Victoria, door open, motor running. He eased Sarah into the passenger seat, closed the door, and ran around to the driver's side, tossing his pack into the back. As Chuck slid into the drivers seat, Sarah's reasoning returned to her.

"The agents came in this car, didn't they? How did I miss it?"

"Don't know. I missed it too, 'til it was too late."

"You flashed back there, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not flashing now. Where should I go?"

"Get us out of the transit center then off the major streets. We need to find a residential neighborhood."

As Chuck pulled out onto 19th, Sarah examined her leg. There were a number of small holes in the stocking but no blood or evidence of an entrance wound. She tore the stocking and saw a red speckled rash, the result of the spray of aggregate from the asphalt dislodged by a ricochet. Relieved, she got her limbs moving, slipping out of her shorts and hoody and rolling the stockings off. She noticed Chuck's eyes track sideways, appraising her naked legs.

"Eyes on the road, Chuck."

Chuck's face reddened as his eyes flicked forward. Sarah pulled jeans and a grey sweatshirt out of her pack and slid into them.

"Had to get those stockings off. The Ring will have a description of us now. Turn right here."

"What are we doing?"

"We have to get rid of this car. They'll be looking for it."

"Okay, how are we getting to Seattle then?"

"Well, it looks like public transit, trains, and Greyhound are out of the question, the Ring has those covered, and cabs are too expensive. I think we'll need to borrow a car … a different car."

"Borrow?"

"Okay, steal."

Chuck gave her a truly shocked look, the first strong reaction to anything she'd said since he'd shot Manny.

"Steal a car? Sarah, no!"

Sarah smiled inwardly while shaking her head. Chuck! Don't ever change.

They had nearly been captured by the Ring minutes before, had only just escaped their custody earlier that morning, and here he was, worrying about the ethics of stealing a car. A warm bubble of affection welled up from a suppressed corner of her heart, surprising her in winning out over the impulse to shake him by the shoulders till his head fell off.

He's still my Chuck.