Hello Friends!! I've been so busy lately but today was a snow day in our fair town, so I was able to write chapter 7 for all you anxious readers! Thank you for reading and I loved all of your reviews!! And I'm sorry to make you wait so long! Hope you enjoy!
Casey wasn't about to show it, but he was afraid. After the shot from Hampton's gun fired, Sarah fell down on the pavement, her head connecting with the concrete first and making a sickening thud. He heard Chuck scream as Hampton dragged him away; Casey knew he should have went after the kid, but his body acted before his brain ever gave direction.
He fell onto the ground beside his partner, whose body remained unnervingly still. With out a second thought, he ripped open her shirt, praying there wasn't too much damage.
He let his head drop, relief flooding over him. Under her now torn shirt was a bullet-proof vest, the bullet hitting her in the middle of her stomach. "Thank God," he said with a quick sigh. She was fine. And she was alive.
Casey heard a soft, but painful moan escape the agent's lips as she started to stir. Her legs bunched together as she picked herself up, one hand rubbing her head; her brow furrowed.
"Ouch… that fall almost knocked me out." She mumbled mostly to herself. After a moment, her eyes popped open in panic, the situation that had just taken place flashing into her mind. "Oh my god, Chuck!" She tried to stand up but Casey shoved her back down, rising in her place.
"Stay down Walker. You smacked your head pretty hard; you might have a slight concussion. And besides, I've been wanting to pump this guy full of lead for a long time. Bout time I got the chance."
In an instant Casey was on his feet, and grabbing Sarah's disposed gun he sprinted to where Hampton had taken Chuck. As he rounded the corner, he saw Hampton shoving the kid's unconscious form into the back seat's floor board of a black SUV. Casey never slowed his pace as he took aim of the terrorist and fired.
The bullet came within inches of Hampton, making the man jump back in surprise. He whipped his head around to see Casey barreling towards him, the agents eyes set in a dead rage. The terrorist cursed loudly, and jumped into the vehicle, climbing over Chuck's body and slipping into the driver's seat.
Hampton revved the engine, quickly put it into drive, and pressed hard onto the gas. The SUV's tires screeched loudly as Hampton steered the vehicle into a half circle, making sure Casey was in his path as he drove forward.
The agent had reacted quickly enough, rolling out of its way and into the cement wall, his back supporting the building. He shot at the tires but wasn't able to get a good shot as Hampton peeled out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. Casey smacked his fist into the sidewalk, cursing loudly.
Sarah watched with absolute dread as she saw Hampton speed away; nearly killing Casey in the process. She jumped to her feet, a wave of nausea washing over her. Waiting a moment for the feeling to pass Sarah made her way quickly to her partner, helping him off the ground.
"Get up Casey! We have to go after them!" She yelled panicky, trying to lift him up. Casey swatted her away, having to support her from falling.
"Calm down, Sarah," he said holding her up by the shoulders. He noticed some of her hair was red with blood.
"I can't just calm down!!" she yelled hysterically, her head throbbing, "We have to follow him or we'll lose Chuck!! Don't you get that? That psycho is planning to torture him! I can't let that happen!!" her voice was now a hysterical shriek as she tried to rip away from Casey's grip.
Casey would not let go. "Were not going to lose him."
"OH! So you think just standing here doing nothing is going to find him!"
"He has his watch on correct?" Sarah looked at the man for a moment, and then nodded. "Then will know where he is. It has a tracker built in it remember? As long as he has that watch, we'll be able to track him.
"What we need to do first though is disable whatever bomb that bastard has hooked up to the Buy More. As long as it's enabled, he'll have leverage over us and Chuck. Once we have that taken care of we need to call Graham and Beckman for reinforcements. Their not going to be too happy when they hear what has happened."
Casey let go of her, looking her in the eye with a rare sincerity. "Walker, I promise you, we're going to find him, and we're going to bring him back home."
Sarah bit her lip, giving Casey an encouraging nod. She knew that what Casey was saying was right; that they needed to wait for back up and take care of the bomb here, but it didn't stop her from wanting to go after Chuck right then. Their conversation was still whirling around in her head, making her heart sick.
Chuck's words echoed through her mind, causing the young woman to blush. He said he had loved her. He actually said it. She knew that she couldn't have feelings for an assignment; but she couldn't help but feel absolute joy from his proclamation.
Casey was on the phone with Beckman, filling her in on the situation. Sarah slumped to the ground, supporting her back on the wall. She let herself get lost in her thoughts, her eyes becoming distant.
Don't worry Chuck, I'm going to find you, she thought to herself, unwanted tears resurfacing, I won't abandon you. Not now; not ever
As Hampton's SUV hit a bump in the road a little too fast, Chuck's head bounced up, coming back down and smacking hard into the floor board and jolting him awake. He let out a small hiss, too low to be heard by the driver. Sweat and blood matted hair to his face and Chuck's vision swam as he opened his eyes. He found himself facing the bottom of a leather backseat, his body laid awkwardly in the floor.
Realizing where he must be, Chuck lay as still as possible on the ground, hoping Hampton wouldn't know he was awake. Though fear gripped him tightly, he let his breathing come in steady, even paces.
His mind was racing. He knew he had to figure a way out of here.
Sarah's body lying on the ground suddenly floated into his mind, tears spilling from his eyes. She was dead. The one girl he let himself love again was killed all because of him. Chuck bit back a sob, closing his eyes. He couldn't think about that now. He knew Sarah wouldn't want him to worry about her. She'd want him to be safe; the intersect to be safe. He opened his eyes back up determinedly. He wasn't going to let Hampton win. The man had hurt Morgan, hurt Ellie, and now murder the girl he loved. Chuck wasn't going to let him get away with it.
Chuck felt the vehicle slow down, taking a long, right turn. His eyes wondered upward, noticing that the sky outside the window had darkened. He wondered what Ellie and Awesome must be thinking about now, wondering where he was. His heart fell into his stomach, thinking that he might never see them again.
Chuck banished the thought from his mind. He had to believe in himself. Though he was just a scrawny little nerd, he could still put up a fight….and run away very fast. Summoning up all the courage he could muster, Chuck closed his eyes again and faked sleep, a plan formulating in his precious head.
Hampton finally came to a stop, the destination reached. Excitement bubbled in his stomach as he looked back at his unconscious prisoner.
"Time to raise and shine chucky-boy" he said in a sing song voice, stepping out of the vehicle. He had parked under a lone street lamp, the night sky absent of light. He had driven far from the Buy More and his recently destroyed residence; closer to the docks. About twenty feet away was an old warehouse, one that he had rented out a decade ago. He's liked to use it on some occasions, for meetings that usually ended fatally for the other member. Hampton let a smile crawl on his lips as he caught a quick glance of it. It has been awhile since he's had the pleasure of using it.
He opened the back seat of the SUV; Chuck's feet facing him. The older man felt a sadistic joy at the thought of Chuck's terrorized look when he found the older man towering over him. Oh yes, killing the kid was going be great fun.
Hampton noticed Chuck's eyes were still closed, his breath still coming slow and even. The terrorist leaned inside the vehicle, "Come on Chucky-boy, time for our fun to begin."
Chuck had been waiting for this moment, feeling the older man grabbed his shirt and try to pull him forward. This is my chance, it's now or never Bartowski.
Just as Hampton tried to pull him up forcibly, Chuck's eyes shot open, a spark of determination in his eyes replaced the terror filled ones that Hampton was searching for. Before the terrorist could react, Chuck bunched his legs together and brought one of them up in a quick snapping motion; hitting the man square in the face. The younger male felt a jolt of excitement as he heard a crunch reverberate underneath his foot.
The man fell back in pain and rage, tumbling out of the car and holding his now broken nose, blood seeping between his fingers. Catching Hampton off guard, Chuck continued his attack, vaulting out of the vehicle and tackling the man to the ground with a triumphant roar.
"Not so great to be on the other foot is it asshole!" Chuck stated punching the man in the face. "That was for threatening my best friend," he raised up, sending his knee into Hampton's stomach, the older man doubling over in pain. "That was for trying to kill my sister." He stood over him, a rare feeling of rage coarsening threw him, "And this, you sick bastard, is for hurting Sarah." Chuck, using all the strength he could muster, rocked his foot back and swung it forward, sending it straight between the terrorist legs.
Hampton's eyes widen, his body going still. A small gasped escaped his lips, as he rocked forward, trying to catch his breath. Chuck stepped away from him, the anger he had felt flooding out of him, along with his energy. He held his smile in place as he exclaimed excitedly. "YES!! That's how you do it!!" He would have made Casey proud.
Chuck ran towards Hampton's vehicle, the man watching him threw hate filled eyes. He circled around it to the other side, opened the diver's door and slid in, quickly reaching for the keys to start it.
Only there was one problem. The keys weren't in the ignition.
Chuck felt his heart stop as he grabbed the absent air where the keys should be, hoping they'd magically appear. If the keys weren't here, then that meant they were with the driver. Chuck swallowed back the bile that seemed to have come up his throat.
He jumped back out and cautiously walked to the other side, his heart skipping a few beats.
Hampton was standing now, slightly hunched over in pain, his eyes filled with absolute hatred. He gave Chuck another one of his sadistically calm smiles, pulling keys out of his pocket and jingling them tauntingly at him.
"You…" Hampton breathed, rage coming out in gasped, "better…be able…to…run fast boy…"
Chuck to two steps back, looking behind him. There was a warehouse some distance away from the parked car. He knew that's exactly where Hampton wanted him to go. He shouldn't go near it, but there was no other option. Looking at the man again, seeing him regaining his usual composure, Chuck took off towards the building, knowing there was very little chance of coming back out.
Hampton smile widen as he watched the boy run away. He whipped the blood from his nose, staining his jacket sleeve. He looked down at it in anger, cursing himself for underestimating the young man. He wouldn't do that again. The boy had courage, but that could easily be stripped away.
The man smiled again as he stored towards the Warehouse, in no hurry to reach it. He pulled the gun out of his pocket. "Find a good hiding place Chucky-boy, because I'm coming to get you."
"Dammit!" Casey hollered, walking towards Sarah. Police, fire trucks and ambulance (All belonging with the CIA and NSA) littered the parking lot of the Buy More. People crowed around the boarders, questions and rumors about the situation were feeling the air. Sarah, seated in an ambulance, just receiving stitches in her head from the fall and having to replace her torn t-shirt with a long-sleeved grey one, looked up a Casey with a glare.
"What?" she said her injury still hurting.
"We found the so-called bomb. It was a dud. Hampton just planted it there to get Chuck."
"He already knew Chuck would surrender himself for his friends…" Sarah said placing her head in her hands. "So we've wasted all this time looking for some damn fake bomb, while Chuck needed our help!!!"
"Don't freak. We already have a trace on him. Graham has a team ready for our lead. Now come on, unless you're not feeling up to it."
Sarah gave him a quick glare, "I'm always up to it." and jumped up, only to be stopped by Morgan's voice.
"Hey Sarah!" Morgan caught up to her, ignoring Casey's brutal stare. "Have you seen Chuck? I thought he went home but Ellie just called and asked me if I knew where he was."
Sarah felt her heart jump into her throat, not sure how to answer. Casey luckily interfered.
"Just tell Bartowski's sister that he's running a little errand for me and that he'll be home a little late." He grabbed Sarah's arm, ignoring her dumbfounded stare, and dragged her away.
"Okay big boy I'll tell her," Morgan called after them. Casey stopped, let go of Sarah and started towards Morgan again.
"Oh yeah and Grimes," he placed his hand on the nerds face and pushed him roughly to the ground. "That was for that little prank earlier."
"Understandable."
Sarah followed Casey to his car, still amazed by his statement moments ago.
"You think will find him in time?" she said in almost a whisper.
"I told you before Walker, I'm not letting the slimy bastard hurt Chuck. And I never go against my word."
He looked back at her, his usual smug smile plastered on his face. "Now stop thinking negatively agent, we got a friend to rescue."
