I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

Again, sorry shippers. Hang in there. Good stuff is coming. But you already knew that when you saw the author's name. Unfortunately it's not here yet. Hopefully the action will make up for it.

Flash2007, I hear you. Nobody has forgotten about the baby. Trust me, Sarah's promises will be addressed.

Thanks to Happydayz for pulling double duty as my conscience in Brickroad's absence. Don't worry folks, her leash is just as short as Brickroad's. And thanks to Poa for being there to listen, encourage… oh and for teaching me how to be a real writer. It might come in handy someday.

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Crack Ho

- - - -

Sarah didn't see Jose's hand until just before it impacted the side of her face. So there was nothing she could do to minimize the impact of it. The blow landed high on her cheekbone. The force almost knocked her over. Even though she was seeing stars she was able to see the backhanded return blow coming and she turned her face a little to lesson the force.

"Next time you kill someone, Sarah," Jose hissed. "You'd better make sure that they are really dead."

Sarah knew better than to speak.

"Hey asshole," Casey growled in an obvious attempt to deflect Jose's anger away from Sarah. "What kind of man hits a woman when her hands are tied behind her back?"

"Better watch it, tough guy," Jose said, never moving his gaze off of Sarah. "I can't kill her. The big boss wants her alive. But he didn't say anything about you."

"One thing I'd like to watch," Casey said with a sneer. "Is for you to untie her so that she could kick your ass around this room."

"I'll be right back," Jose said as he moved his head close to Sarah's. "Maybe we can get reacquainted."

- - - -

Chuck and Janice stared at each other in horror as they listened to what was going on.

"Who in the hell is that?" Janice said to no one in particular.

When Chuck finally looked up from the floor he could see that Ellie and Devon were now gathered around the speaker listening intently.

"I know who it is," Chuck said, trying to force out the words. "Sarah told me the story just this morning. Jose was the head of security for the cartel when you were in Bogotá. Sarah seduced him to get into the compound. Then she strangled him with her belt just before he was about to rape her."

"Shit!" Janice exclaimed. "We have to get her out of there."

Just then they got the notification that someone inside the house was making a cell call. Fortunately, Janice had been able to trace the earlier call from the same phone so they were able to hear both sides of the conversation.

- - - -

"Good news, sir," said Jose. "We have Agent Walker."

"Excellent! I'll send some men over for her right away."

"Not so fast," said Jose. "I'm afraid there has been a change in plans."

"Change in plans? I don't understand."

"It turns out that Sarah and I are old friends," said Jose. "She owes me a debt that has been collecting interest for many years. She's going to be spending tonight paying me back."

"Wait a minute. We just lost twelve men for the chance to talk to Agent Walker, and now you don't want to hand her over? I want her now!"

"This is non negotiable!" Jose said as he raised his voice. "I don't care if you kill me. I'll give you the man now. But I'm keeping Sarah until the morning. She is going to pay."

"She can't be harmed. We need her in one piece."

"Don't worry," Jose said. "I won't do anything to her that a little makeup won't hide."

There was a long pause. So long that Janice was starting to worry that they had dropped the call.

"Fine. I'll send someone over for the NSA agent. I'm holding you personally responsible for Agent Walker. If I don't get what I want you'll be begging me to kill you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Jose said. "She'll be alive. You can pick her up at nine."

- - - -

"Damn," Janice sighed. "There goes our plan. I was counting on them moving Casey and Sarah together. There is no way to ambush them now. That would just tip them off and Sarah would be a goner. I'll have to go in there and get her."

"Janice," Chuck said. "There must be ten men in there. Can't we call Beckman and get some more manpower down here?"

Janice considered Chuck's statement for a moment. Then she shook her head.

"We have to assume that our communication with Beckman is compromised," Janice said. "And there is no time to go and talk to her in person. Surprise is the only thing that we have in our favor. I'll have to go."

"But, Janice," Chuck said. "Sarah is in the basement. How could you possibly fight your way through ten men and get down in the basement before they would kill her?"

"It's going to be tough," Janice admitted, more to herself than to Chuck. "I could really use another set of eyes. Maybe a distraction. But I'll have to risk it."

The voice came so softly that Chuck had to do a double take to make sure that he heard her right. It took a long moment before he even realized that it was Ellie.

"I'll go with you."

- - - -

"No way," Janice, Chuck, and Devon all said at basically the same time.

"Why not?" Ellie asked. "Janice needs a distraction. I can be a distraction. Maybe I can pass out or something."

"Why you?" Chuck asked.

"Look around, genius," Ellie said. "Devon was just being held hostage in there an hour ago. They would recognize him before he got in the house. No way can it be you. You're the one they're after. I'm the only one they wouldn't recognize."

"Ellie," Janice said. "This is not a game. If they discover you, killing you would be the best thing that happens."

"My sister is in there," Ellie said firmly. "I love her. She is carrying my unborn niece. We need to get her out of there before that animal can do God knows what to her. I'm going to do whatever it takes. And if you're not going to help, you can go to hell. I'll go alone if I have to."

Janice stood and observed Ellie for a long moment. Finally she was satisfied that Ellie was determined.

"Okay, Ellie," Janice said. "What are you wearing under those scrubs?"

"Tank top," Ellie said. "Why?"

"Show me," Janice said.

As soon as Ellie took off her scrubs, Janice appraised her. Indeed, she was wearing a dark blue tank top.

"Lose the bra."

At Ellie's look, Janice responded harshly.

"Ellie," Janice said. "There is only one way to do this. If you're going to go into that house, you have to completely convince them that you are the raunchiest crack ho in Los Angeles. You'd screw every guy in there for a dime bag. You have to be so raunchy that none of the men are going to want to touch you. If you go in there as Dr. Bartowski, you'll be on your back getting plowed by one or more of them so fast you won't know what hit you. If you can't do that, then stay here. Do you understand?"

After a long pause, Ellie nodded her head. As she went to pull the top over her head she paused. "Chuck," she said. "Would you turn your back?"

Chuck looked at Ellie carefully. He was worried sick about Sarah. No question about that. But Sarah could always take care of herself. Ellie was a fish out of water in these kind of situations. If anything happened to either of them, he didn't know what he would do.

"Ellie," Chuck said. "Be careful."

"Damn it, Chuck!" Ellie snapped. "We're wasting time. Are you going to turn your back or not?"

"Like I'd want to see this," Chuck replied sarcastically as he quickly turned away.

- - - -

Two men came and led Casey up the stairs. As Casey climbed the steps, he turned and looked at Sarah; his jaw was set tightly. Sarah could tell that he was stalling, trying to find an opening to attack and save her.

"Don't worry about me," Sarah said with a smile. "I'll see you soon."

Since one of the men left with Casey, that left two guards and Jose.

"Well Jose," Sarah said with exaggerated enthusiasm knowing that Janice was listening. "It looks like it's just you and me. Oh, and your two guards. And the seven more upstairs. What do you want to do now? Would you like to show me around again? I must say, this place is not nearly as impressive as the one in Bogotá. Have times been bad? I know that the economy is down right now."

Jose just smiled at her confidently.

"Go ahead," Jose replied. "Make fun all you want. You know what is going to happen in a few minutes. Let's face it. We both know."

"I know," Sarah said as the smile left her face.

- - - -

"Okay, Ellie," Janice said as they got ready to leave. "This is your last chance. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

"Of course not," Ellie snapped. "I'm sure that I don't want to do this. But I'm going to."

"Okay," Janice continued as she handed Ellie her ear piece. "Chuck is going to be talking to us all the time. Sarah just told us that there are seven men upstairs. I'll go in first. You wait about five minutes and knock on the door. Tell them that you are a friend of Jose's and want to buy. They will tell you that Jose is busy. Tell them that you will wait. When I say the word 'party', you pretend to throw up. Nobody can tear their head away from someone throwing up. That should let me get the drop on them. Any questions?"

Ellie just shook her head.

"Do you know how to act?"

"I've been an ER attending physician for the past five years," Ellie said with an indignant look. "I've treated those girls every night. I've seen the blank looks on their faces. Yes, I know what to do."

"When the fighting starts," Janice said. "Stay as low as you can. Just stay passed out until it's over. If anything happens to me, you've never seen me before in your life. Got it? I put a tranq gun and some darts in your purse. Just in case."

Ellie smiled nervously.

"Just please," Janice said. "Whatever you do, don't shoot me with it."

- - - -

Jose loosened the binds that had Sarah secured to the chair. As soon as she was free, he pulled her roughly to her feet and pushed her into a side room. It would be a stretch to call it a bedroom. But there was a bed. Of course the sheets looked like they had last been changed during the Clinton Administration. Since Sarah's hands were still cuffed behind her back there was no way for her to protect herself as she went crashing into the bed. Jose walked into the room after Sarah. As soon as he slammed the door, he grabbed Sarah by the hair and pulled her to her feet.

"Jose, please," Sarah said. She couldn't finish her sentence because Jose slammed her into the wall, taking her breath away. Finally Sarah was able to choke out.

"Do you think we could make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" Jose growled as he stopped his battering for a moment. "You don't have anything to trade with."

Sarah looked at the floor for a long moment. When she finally looked back at Jose, he could see the tears filling her eyes.

"Sure I do," Sarah said. "We both know what you want. I can make it a lot better for you if I… cooperate. A lot better."

Jose looked at her skeptically.

"Like you cooperated in Bogotá?"

"That was a different situation," Sarah said. "Here you have two armed guards waiting for me. What am I going to do?"

"And what do you get?"

Sarah could tell by the look in Jose's eyes that he was excited by her offer.

"A couple of things," Sarah said as she took a deep breath. "First off, it's just you. And we stay in the bedroom. I'm not putting on a peep show and your amigos have to find their own dates."

Jose simply grinned at her.

"And you have to use a condom," Sarah continued. "I assume that you have some this time?"

Jose nodded.

"Finally," Sarah said. "No more violence. I have a man, Jose. And I don't want to explain any marks on my body in places that only he should be seeing. This is a story that I will never have to tell him."

"You keep your cuffs on," Jose said.

"Fine," Sarah said. "It would be a lot better for you if I could use my hands. How about you take off my cuffs so I can take my shirt off? Then I'll put them back on."

"Sarah," Jose said as he reached behind her to unlock her handcuffs. "I believe we have a deal."

- - - -

While Devon and Chuck listened to Sarah and Jose negotiate, Devon put his hand gently on Chuck's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, bro," Devon said as tears threatened his eyes. "I know how hard it must be to have to listen to your wife sleep with another man. But it looks like she has no choice."

To Devon's utter surprise, Chuck just grinned at him.

"She's not going to sleep with him," Chuck said with a laugh. "She just played him like a car radio. That last bit about never having to tell me the story was code. She was telling me that there isn't going to be anything to tell."

Laughing at Devon's surprised look, Chuck keyed his mike. "Sarah is securing Jose in the downstairs bedroom," he said to Janice, who was just walking up to the door. "Two bogies remain downstairs. I would assume that Jose is neutralized and probably at least one of the guards."

"Rodger that," Janice said as she knocked on the door. After a second, Chuck heard Ellie's softer voice, who had obviously forgotten that she was being listened to.

"Way to go, Sarah,"

- - - -

Sarah and Jose were still in the bedroom. Sarah, per their deal, had taken her shirt off and reapplied the handcuffs. One compromise that Jose allowed was that she could keep her hands cuffed in front of her.

Sarah, taking the initiative, stepped up to Jose and kissed him. She quickly opened her mouth to give Jose access. After a moment she broke the kiss.

"Jose," Sarah whispered. "As long as this is going to happen anyway, I might as well enjoy it too. You don't mind do you?"

Jose shook his head just as Sarah kissed him again. This time the kiss had a lot more energy as she invaded his mouth. Just as Sarah could feel Jose's hand slide under the edge of her bra, Sarah broke the kiss.

"I've always had this fantasy," she whispered with a smile as she held up her wrists and shook her cuffs suggestively.

As she stepped behind Jose, she put her hands on his face.

Suddenly, she pulled the chain of her handcuffs around Jose's neck. And using the cuffs as handles pulled with all her might. To Jose's credit, he struggled for quite a while before finally succumbing. When she was finally sure that he was dead, Sarah slowly released her grip.

"Thanks, Jose," Sarah said as she unlocked her cuffs. "I did enjoy that."

"Was it good for you?"

- - - -

Janice had to admit. Ellie was a natural as a stoned crack ho. Of the seven men that were upstairs, four of them surrounded Ellie. Not to flirt with her. Quite the opposite. They were trying to keep her from stumbling into and breaking their stuff. The three men that remained with Janice were obviously trying to negotiate a payment plan that didn't involve actual money." Finally Janice felt it was time to make her move. So she turned to the nearest gang member.

"Are you ready to party?" Janice asked.

Hearing her cue, Ellie slowly fell to her knees and began retching in a performance that was worthy of an academy award. Sure enough, every eye in the room turned to her in horror. Taking advantage of the distraction, Janice pulled out her gun and began shooting. She was easily able to kill the three men closest to her before they even turned around. Three of the four remaining men rushed towards Janice. Ellie was able to jam a tranq dart into the forth man by grasping him and pretending to faint. He fell like a sack of potatoes.

Janice was able to kill the first man before he reached her. But the second was able to grab her arm and knock the gun out of her hand. He then drove his other hand into Janice's stomach. Even though the wind was knocked out of her, Janice as able to throw her shoulder into his waist and they tumbled to the ground, wrestling violently for control. Finally, Janice was able to land a head butt to the man, knocking him unconscious.

The final man spotted Janice's gun on the floor and he picked it up, aiming it at Janice. Janice looked up for a moment and her eyes widened; there was no time to take cover. She closed her eyes as the shot rang out. When she opened them again, Sarah was standing over her and the man Janice had been fighting.

"Jose and the two men downstairs are dead," Sarah said as she fought exhaustion.

While Janice and Sarah leaned on each other and tried to catch their breath, Ellie stood up from the floor and approached them. The anger was clearly visible on Sarah's face.

"Ellie!" Sarah said as she raised her voice. "What are you doing here? You could have been killed. Have you lost your freaking mind?"

Instead of answering, Ellie simply threw her arms around Sarah's neck and sobbed.

"I love you," Ellie cried.

Even though Sarah was genuinely livid, she couldn't help but be moved by Ellie's emotion. Finally Sarah gave in. She put her arms around Ellie and hugged her affectionately. After a long moment of pure embrace, Sarah whispered into Ellie's ear.

"What kind of crazy family have I married into?"

- - - -