Thankyou for all your kind words! :) A shoutout to Madje and Whatutalkinabout. Your enthusiasm catalysed my efforts!

This is a slightly darker chapter, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, otherwise Chuck would be on renewal till season 12 and Charah would be wayyy farther by now.

Three weeks later

A green-shirted burly man was walking towards the Orange Orange with large strides. He looked unusually worried, as the contours of his face had creased into frowns. He entered the shop, leading a lanky moron to quickly remove his face and clumsily step back pretending that nothing was happening. Casey grunted in disgust, "Get a room."

Sarah glared at him, but Casey simply motioned them to move towards the Castle. Casey explained, "General Beckman has requested an emergency meeting."

The screen in the underground headquarters blinked to life and a frowning General Beckman looked at the screen. "Colonel Casey, why is the whole team here? I simply asked for Agent Walker. Nevertheless, you might as well hear about it otherwise I'd have to do another briefing and I don't have that much time."

The next six words General Beckman was going to utter were going to irreversibly change the lives of the people in the room forever.

"Sarah, Agent Hansen has been kidnapped."

"In 2001, you and Agent Hansen were the only ones who were able to successfully infiltrate the Mujahideen in Pakistan and get us intel about the Taliban and the LeT groups. Agent Hansen was there to infiltrate and find out more about the ISI activities but she has missed three check-ins with us. We have to assume that her last part of the mission did not go as smoothly as planned. You are the only one who can rescue her, Agent Walker. You know that place like the back of your hand. Get in Pakistan and get Agent Hansen out. Till then, Team Bartowski will be benched."

Chuck stood up and said, "Alone? Why should she go alone, General Beckman? We can go with her."

The General shook her head, "A firangi or white man attracts much more attention there, Mr Bartowski and I cannot trust that you will be safe in that country. I do not want the country's most important asset roaming around in a dangerous country."

Chuck angrily fired off, "What is the point of my being an agent now if you still treat me like an unaware child?"

General Beckman glared, "My decision is final." On that ominous note, the conversation finished.

Sarah had been eerily quiet during the entire confrontation, and now walked out of the room without a word to anyone. She heard the faint voice of Chuck behind her, but she was utterly absorbed in her own thoughts. This wasn't the first time she was being made to go back to a place she never wanted to go back to. Prague, Chechen, Afghanistan and..Pakistan. All successful missions, stars on Agent Walker's record but she merely remembered those places where the blood just wouldn't wash off. Where sleep would not come, the places which made her the stone hearted robot she had become. She wanted to feel, god knows she did but the primal fear of survival was much greater.

Carina had always been her inexplicable friend. Before Bryce, she was her most frequent partner, but also a reckless one. While Chuck had enjoyed the collegiate atmosphere of Stanford, and it's relative safety, they had worn the disguise of Muslim women for more than a year, with the help of the CIA make-up artists. They became whatever the moment needed them to become. From harlem dancers for the Talibani soldiers to Pashtun nurses - all careers where the chiefs were vulnerable enough to let go important secrets. Everything had been okay, until a low-ranked Jihadi stumbled upon their secret when Carina had momentarily slipped into her American accent.

He was in control of a few more men who held Sarah and Carina for days, torturing them in all possible ways. Syringes, needles, scorpions, barbed wire - they were prisoners for a week until Sarah found a loophole in their relaxing guard and she quickly scrambled out of the cave carrying Carina for 15 miles. She had finished off all the men who had tortured them. She had emptied ten clips into the last one. They were back in the States within two days, and the honchos were so impressed with their work, that she had almost become a Deputy Director, but Sarah turned it down. Pain was harder to forget in front of files and a mahogany table.

She didn't even notice where she was until she stood in front of her hotel room. She entered the room, mechanically packing her equipment trying to recover her stony facade, Chuck had made her shelve so long ago. A knock interrupted her thoughts. Sarah opened the door to let Chuck in. He sat on her bed watching her move around finally quietly speaking, "You know, they might allow you to stay if you say so."

Sarah shook her head, "Carina needs to be saved and I'm the only one who knows that area. I'm not going to let my emotions get in the way of her safety." She looked at him with a tired gaze, looking years older than that morning. She sat beside him nibbling at the offered bagel.

He softly murmured, "Will you tell me?"

She did.

Lahore, Pakistan

A clean-shaven man in English attire, sat before a restrained woman who had been beaten until she was completely beyond recognition. The man would have looked out of place with the rest of the men in Pakistani kurtas and turbans if not for the leadership he exuded. Even the man who had been laughing while the woman was wincing in pain, was cowed by his presence. This man was Hafiz Iqbal. He smiled and looking at the emaciated skeleton spoke, "Now, Now. I would be impressed by you if you weren't so rude, Agent Hansen."

He stood, picking up the red-hot whip from the stool beside him and smiled, "I already told you, you merely are my bait, dear. You are my way to Sarah Walker."

Carina could no longer see clearly but she mustered all her strength, and projected a wad of spit at the man. Hafiz Iqbal cleaned the spit and signaled his men to continue with a wave of his hand. Carina had tried everything to save Sarah by now, starting with the I-don't-know-who-the-hell-you-are-talking-about to silently bearing the torture but the man was after her, like a wolf after a scent. They were primitive and fundamentalist, but their operations were as methodical and good enough to get all sorts of information on Sarah Walker.

They were clearly waiting for her to come and rescue Carina, and their confidence unnerved the experienced agent.

Next chapter coming up soon. Hang in there. Remember, the more the reviews, the faster I write! :P

(Yes, yes. I'm a glutton for reviews, but who isn't? Writers are narcissistic by nature. hehe.)