A/N: I wrote most of this when I was in Ireland in the hospital and although it's weird, me likee. Must have been the drugs but it makes sense it you keep your sense of humor and purpose. Subtle nuances escape the average mind. Bestatt you've been warned. Meh to you too.

Big chapter because I screwed you over by getting sick. mea culpa

APR

Sleepingwiththeenemy10

Motel 6
Sonora, TX

General Beckman was not pleased with developments in Texas. First her safe house had been invaded and the recovered asset almost taken by Fulcrum agents. Then those same agents had been killed, supposedly by the asset. Then the DEA agent trips to the program or conditioning trigger. And finally, the DEA agent either flips to Fulcrum or is so damned compromised that she and the asset disappear for parts unknown. No, wait, Marfa-by-God, Texas.

"Major Casey, I want you and Agent Walker to find Bartowski and bring him in under arrest. I don't care if you bring in Hansen dead or alive because her career is over and she might as well be dead. You have 48 hours to recover the asset or I'll be forced to issue a sanction Combine-wide. Is that understood?"

Both agents nodded. What choice did they have? None. Bartowski had nicely screwed the pooch and was now considered a loose cannon and if they didn't recover him, the Combine would find him and kill him.

"Casey, I'm driving. You drive like an old lady and we have to cover the miles to Marfa in less time that we have. I can't believe Beckman. We just got him back and she wants him dead."

"Walker, you're not thinking like she does. He was hers. She lost him. We found him. We lost him. No one else can have him. Can he still flash after all this? Probably not. That's why she's being so ruthless. He's valuable to them now, not her. He's just a broken cog in the machine."

'He's not a cog in any machine and once I get him back, I'll fix him and then…and then…I'll marry. To hell with Beckman. I'm entitled to some happiness and he's all I need.'

Morgan's Veterinary Clinic
Marfa, TX
7:30AM

Jules had insisted on cooking them a huge breakfast. She knew this wasn't a social call and she needed time to think and to make plans.

While Jules bustled about the kitchen, Carina whispered frantically to Chuck. "Jesus, she's Jill's twin sister? Why the hell are we here? You shot me some crap about subdermal sensors, didn't you? You just wanted to get back to Fulcrum. You fucking traitor!"

If Chuck ever doubted Carina's loyalty to her country, she proved it when she pulled out her pistol and shoved it into Chuck's stomach and glared at him to 'tell me the damned truth'.

"It's a long story and if you keep your pants on, you'll hear all about it. Jules is good people. She's not involved in the intelligence business at all except that she's Jill's sister."

Just then Jules walked in and sat down heavily and stared down at her coffee cup. "Chuck, you're the last person I ever expected would be a traitor to his country. I should throw your ass out or call the cops. How could you…"

"Jules, it's not that at all. I do some things for the government and Agent Hansen is my handler. She's supposed to keep me out of trouble but…"

"Agent Hansen, you have my sympathies. This asshole is a trouble magnet. I should have married him when I had the chance and saved the government all this trouble." The last sentence was muttered with definite regret.

Carina looked at Chuck and noted a tightening of the eyes as he looked out the window at the stock pen. There were horses there. They were very beautiful and appeared to have had the same bloodline. You could take the girl off the horse ranch but…

"What generation are they, Julia?" He was nodding toward the window and the stock pen beyond.

"Third through fifth. Actually, I…" She turned and looked at him and she was suddenly so sad.

"My God. Those bastards did it, didn't they? What Gen are you?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't even suspect it until I saw those beautiful horses out there. How can you call them 'bastards' when you're doing exactly the same thing?"

"I'm rebuilding species not duplicating…well, I suppose you're here seeking your Prime, right?"

"Rebuilding species? What for? We're all sterile and require your damned vats for offspring. How is that any improvement?"

"Chuck, there's a 30% fertility rate for the mares, higher among the stallions. I've got 4 natural-born colts out to pasture with their mares. I'll take you there later."

"OK. Carina's a Natural. She probably has no idea what we're talking about but I'll fill her in when we get time. She's very special to me. Right now, I need to find Prime, Jules, and rescue him. Chuck Bartowski is a very special man and he's very important to the security of this country. He can do something with his mind that is incredible."

"So why are you here, Chuck? I suppose 'Chuck' isn't your name. How old are you?"

"I think maybe 6 months but that's from 'awareness'. I might be older but I've been conditioned to be Chuck Bartowski. Your sister is my Maker and I think she's tracking me with subdermal sensors. At least that's what Dr. Pesich said."

Carina started to hyperventilate and he immediately crouched down by her side. "Hey, it's all right. I'm as human as you are. Don't panic, Sweetheart. I – I love you just like Prime loves his Sarah. We're supposed to be together now. That's why you're here and the General and Sarah were left behind. Breathe deeply and look into my eyes. You know I'm telling you the truth. You're a Natural, Carina, and you're special."

"Chuck, she doesn't need all that information right now. Take her out to the stock pen and get some air. I'll clean up here and then get the treatment room prepped and we'll x-ray your body and figure out how to extract those damned sensors. Pesich was a butcher and a hack not a geneticist. If she worked on you there will be…"

"Later, Jules. My memories of you were implanted during a final download. I think Jill wanted me to escape and deceive the Agencies that 'Chuck' was recovered but no longer able to perform his special function. Smart but risky. The accelerated growth was risky also. I'm sure there's a price to be paid for it."

Interstate 10
65 miles from Marfa

"Sarah, Chuck seems different. I mean, well, he seems slightly 'off' from what I was used to. What's your opinion?"

"After all he's been through, I don't think about the differences, just that he's back where he belongs. I don't care if he can't remember a damned thing from before, we're living from 'now on' and that'll be enough. We both get a fresh start."

Stock Pens
Morgan Veterinary Clinic
Marfa, TX

Chuck rocked Carina against his chest while she sobbed with the revelation that he wasn't a 'natural' human but a clone.

"Carina, I am human. I was just born differently, that's all. You are Carina Hansen and I am Charles Bartowski. I'm a perfect physical match for my Prime but it's in here," he pointed to his heart, "and in here," he kissed her forehead, "that I'm different from Chuck Bartowski."

"And when we find the real Chuck, what happens then? Will they kill you or just lock you up as a curiosity or…my God, they'll experiment on you! I know how the government works. Oh, God, I don't want them cutting you open and studying…We'll run, Chuck. I have contacts down here and we can run…"

"Shhh. When I get my Prime back, we'll disappear. I love you, Carina Hansen. It's not programming, it's choice. You have no obligation to me but I wanted you to know how I feel about you. I won't allow anything to harm you."

"Chuck, what did she mean when she said she should have married you when she had the chance?"

"I don't know. My memories of Prime are all conflicting. I have some that are his, and then I have a shit load of 'Jill's memories'. I can't remember what my sister looks like or anything about my childhood. All I know for sure is that Charles Bartowski is my name. I was supposed to 'love' Jill but then I saw you in Laredo and…and her crap just melted away leaving me, Charles3, behind. You took my breath away and even though I was worried about my wife, I still felt like I'd been struck by lightning when I saw you."

"How are we going to find your…er…Prime and then escape, Chuck? I'm so damned scared. I knew it was you in Laredo but it was a different you. Maybe it was the beard, I don't know. What do we do now?"

"First, we get these damned sensors out of me and then we check out Jules's 'vats' and see if they'll meet Jill's needs and be the reason she'll come here to continue her project."

"Chuck…hell, you're Chuck but not Chuck…you're Charlie from now on, OK? My Charlie."

"Fine. Whatever melts your butter. But for right now, we need to get these sensors out of me and then set a trap using them to draw Jill to us."

20 Miles South of Marfa

"Chuck, I know you're hurting but you have to sit up straight and let me do the talking when we get to Marfa. I'll make contact with the General but first I'm taking you to a safe house and get you hooked up with a decent doctor. Sweetheart, you have to hang on another hour or so. Can you do it for us?"

"Yeah. But it's still bleeding and I'm getting really tired, Jill. And cold. Can you turn on the heater?" He was holding the blood soaked towel against his side.

He'd been shot when they busted out of the labs and ran to the group of buildings a mile or so away from Winter. The aircraft they were supposed to escape in was a smoking hole in the ground near the end of the runway. Jill found an old pickup truck that would start and got them safely away from the Fulcrum hit team that had assaulted the complex. They'd spent the last day or so on the road. He wasn't sure. He slept a lot. And he must have been clonked on the head because he couldn't remember a damned thing before she wakened him and dragged him up onto the surface.

Jill looked over at her 'husband' and grimaced. They needed to get to Marfa and get him stabilized. The whole damned project was in the shitter and she had no idea how many of the clones were discovered. She figured that they'd find the clone she'd prepped to be 'Chuck Bartowski' in the download machine and would be fooled. She would be surprised if he had any mind left at all.

"Just hang on, baby. I'll get you to a doctor just as soon as I can. Once you're back on your feet we'll go someplace and just be together for as long as we can. Chuck, you have to hang on, baby. I need you!"

Alpine, TX
40 miles NNE of Marfa

"Sarah, you'd better slow down or we'll be in jail or the morgue instead of helping Chuck." She'd been blowing the doors off anything in her path and it was only a matter of time before some pissed-off highway patrolman took off in pursuit.

"Fine. I'll keep it under 80 but he'd better be there when we get there. Honestly, who the hell goes to Marfa willingly? It's almost…"

"We're looking for a Dr. Morgan. There can't be that many doctors in a county with less than 2,200 people in it. Everyone's got to know good ol' Doc Morgan." He was trying to calm her down, bring humor into the situation like Bartowski would. He could always count on Chuck to bring something funny into the darkest conversations.

"He'd better be competent if he's cutting on my guy, John, or I'll gut him like a fish. I'll leave him out on the desert for the wolves and coyotes to have. I'll…"

"Walker, I get the general idea. You really need to knock off the caffeine and sugar. You're wired tighter than…"

"What if it was Ellie some quack was going to slice and dice, Casey? Would you be so damned calm and 'centered'? NO! You'd be cleaning your damned gun and planning on where to dispose of the body…just like me."

He sighed. She was right. He hated it when she was right.

"You're right, Sarah. I'll help you dispose of the geezer's body if he screws up."

"I figured you would, John. Thanks."

Morgan Veterinary Clinic
Marfa, TX

"OK, Chuck…sorry, Charlie, hop up on the table and let's get started. The x-ray machine is a little clunky but then I mostly x-ray horses with it. Carina, you might want to get over here behind the shielding unless you and Charlie don't want kids."

Carina turned a deep, dark red and scurried behind the thick barrier. 'Kids? Oh, maybe…yeah, maybe…yeah, kids'.

The films were quickly developed and they saw the three sensors and Jules commented that a local was all that would be needed and it would help if Carina just held his hand.

"He always hated shots and blood tests. Once he…" She stopped and looked so sad and looked to the floor for a few seconds to compose herself. "I guess that wasn't Charlie at all, was it?"

Twenty minutes and 12 stitches later Jules snapped off her latex gloves and admired her handiwork.

"There! All done and I did a great job if I do say so myself. Carina, you'll need to change the dressings daily and use the antiseptic soap and then take out the stitches in a week or so. Charlie, what do you want to do with these?" she indicated the sensors lying in the stainless steel pan.

"I think…" He was interrupted by a truck horn and a woman calling 'Jules, Jules, I need your help!'

Jill ran up to the house door and was pounding on it when Carina, Charlie and Jules ran out to the truck.

"Charlie, it's Chuck and he's hurt!" Carina was stunned into silence when she saw Charlie pick up an unconscious Chuck and run back towards the clinic and the treatment room. She'd never really believed all that cloning nonsense…

Her training kicked in even if her mind was still boggled. Jill Roberts, the person responsible for all the cloning and misery, was running after the trio, yelling something incomprehensible – and she had a gun.

'She'll mess with Charlie. He said she was his Maker. I'll send the bitch to meet hers!'

She drew out her pistol and ran toward the clinic.

Charlie gently deposited Chuck on the treatment table that still bore the bloody evidence of the previous procedure. Jules eyes were wide and fixed on the bullet hole just above his hip that oozed blood.

"I've never worked on a person before. And never on a gunshot wound. I don't have the skill…"

"Jules, it's Chuck. You have to stop the bleeding and dig out the bullet. C'mon, you're a vet. People are just…small horses. Do you have the stuff to put him under?" Jill was frantic and would do anything to convince her sister to operate and save him.

"Yeah. I'll rig up a mask and we'll do this old-style. Jill, how long ago was he shot?"

"Two days ago. Fulcrum hit our labs and…"

"Liar!" Carina stood directly behind Jill with her pistol shoved into the small of her back. "Lying bitch! Traitor. Down on your knees and put your hands behind your back…do it!" She pulled the 9mm from Jill's waistband and shoved her down.

She had her handcuffs out and slapped them on her right wrist and then dragged her over to a steel pen and clamped it over a metal rail. She hoped it hurt like Hell. She could see the bloody surgical dressing on her bicep and grinned. She hadn't missed in Laredo.

Jill looked at Charlie and began to talk to him in her singsong litany.

"Chuck, listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice. Chuck, I love you, baby, listen to the sound of my voice. Execute…" Carina slammed her pistol into her face, effectively stopping the execution commands by knocking the bitch out.

She walked over to Charlie who looked dazed. "Charlie, I love you, Charlie. It's OK. You're Charlie3 and I love you. Just sit down and gather your thoughts, baby. She's not going to invoke any damned conditioning while I'm alive!"

She found some gauze and adhesive tape and gagged Jill and then undid the cuff from the pole, wrapped her arm around it and slapped the cuff on her other wrist. 'Let's see the bitch gnaw through her wrist to escape…That pipe is 3 inches of oil field steel.'

"Carina, I'm going to need some help here. I need you to listen to his heart and take his blood pressure every 2 or 3 minutes. Here, let me show you how to do the BP…"

It was ironic. They'd stopped at the first (and only public) phone booth when they reached Marfa and Casey had run out to check the directory but returned empty-handed. It was the same booth that Chuck had stolen the phone book from.

"Shit! Someone stole the damned directory. Head over to that diner and I'll ask for Dr. Morgan."

A few minutes later Chuck was under and Jules had cleaned the area around the entry wound and was using a long probe to try and locate the bullet. She glanced at the x-ray hanging on the light box and used it as a guide.

'The last time I had him naked was at Stanford the night before SHE showed up and Daddy took me 'home'. I should have done what Chuck wanted. We should have eloped and none of this would have happened. I wouldn't be hiding in the ass-end of Texas waiting for them to find me and take me back. I could have made him understand. He loved me, Jules, not that substitute my Daddy fobbed off on him. So what if she was Prime. I found him first. I loved him first.'

Seven Years Earlier
Bartowski/Larkin Student Apartment
Stanford University

"C'mon, Jill, it's not like we haven't touched each other before. Hell, sweetheart, we've made love and we've both done things to each other that are probably illegal even in California…"

"Chuck, no! Please, don't force me. I – I – have a nasty scar and I don't want you to see it. Please? Just accept the fact that I'm shy about it. That's why I don't want the lights on. Please?"

"Fine. I can understand that, Jill, but I love you, scars or no scars. It's no big deal, really. I'm sorry I pushed you…"

"I know. You're always apologizing even when it's not your fault. Look, someday you'll see me in all my glory and then you'll understand. Just – just don't run away from me when you see it, please? Promise me, Chuck!"

"OK, OK, I promise but Jill, nothing could make me leave you, honey. Nothing."

'Except that my name's not Jill and I'm leaving you soon and she'll be here and I'll be…I don't know where I'll be. I don't know if I'll be.'

Casey ran from the diner back to their car laughing. "Sarah, the Fulcrum 'doc' is a …" He couldn't stop laughing until Sarah popped him in the back of the head with one of his patented 'Bartowski the moron' head slaps.

"Damn it, Casey, there's nothing funny about this…"

"Walker, the Doc's a vet! We drove right by her place. C'mon, backtrack. It's only a few miles out of town on the left." He continued snickering despite the glares from Sarah.

She peeled out and was out of town after running one of the two red lights in beautiful downtown Marfa-by-God-Texas.

Morgan Veterinary Clinic

"Got it! Let me irrigate the wound and pack it and then we're almost done…" She pulled the sheet down lower and placed gauze packing around the wound site and noticed something so strange, terrifying and unexpected…and yet so damned familiar. She saw the same thing, or rather, the absence of the same thing, every time she showered. If she hadn't been so busy trying to close up the wound she'd have laughed herself silly.

"Jules, his BP is dropping and he's cold, Jules, really cold."

"He needs blood. I haven't got a damned thing we can use on a human. I'll…"

"You have me. We're the same blood type, obviously. Use me to save him. He's Prime and he needs to survive. Take as much as you need." Charlie3 was adamant and was already rolling up the sleeve of his shirt.

"Good idea. I have to start thinking. Of course you're the same blood type. But Charlie, he's not…"

"Just do it, Jules. Jesus, he's special. He's Prime. He has to survive!"

"One pint, that's all, OK? And Charlie, he's not…he's not Prime. He's one of us. See?" She pulled the sheet down off his abdomen and pointed.

"Shit shit shit! Carina, wake her up." He pointed to Jill, still unconscious with her hands cuffed around the pole behind her back.

"Find out where Prime is. Jules, start the transfusion. I can't let him die, either. And with two of us…Prime might need 'parts', Jules."

The two agents pulled into the unpaved gravel lot of the Morgan Veterinary Clinic and both were out of the car, weapons in hand, before the dust even settled. Sarah went to check out the ratty old pickup truck while Casey did the same to their stolen pool car.

"Casey, there's blood all over the passenger seat and there're bloody towels on the floor boards."

Both agents spotted the open door of the treatment building and approached it cautiously. They counted down and then jumped through the door together shouting, "Federal Agents, drop your weapons and get down on the ground!"

They were ignored. It was as if they weren't even there. That tends to piss off Federal Agents.

"I said 'drop your weapons and get down on the ground. Are you deaf?" Walker was not in a mood to be trifled with.

Jules glanced up and nodded and said, "Hello, I'm Dr. Morgan and I'll be right with you. Have patience since I have a patient."

Casey's jaw dropped when he saw Hansen savagely pinching the ear lobe of Jill Roberts and then was rendered speechless when he focused on the vet who was working on Chuck who was getting a transfusion from Chuck who was sitting on a stool looking very pensive.

"Walker, there's two of them! TWO Jills and TWO Bartowskis!" He slowly lowered his weapon and waited for someone to start explaining the situation.

Sarah walked over to the 'Chuck' sitting on the stool giving blood to 'Chuck' lying on the treatment table.

"Hello, Agent Walker. I suppose you're pissed off but I had no choice. I didn't know what we were heading into and it was imperative that you and General Casey survive."

"Actually, I'm not mad at you at all, sweetheart. I love you, Chuck. Why is that so hard for you to accept?" She had the beginnings of tears in her eyes but refused to let her emotions slip. Not again. Not until they were safely away someplace together.

"Agent Walker, I'm not your Chuck. I'm her's," pointing to Carina who was unsuccessfully trying to bring Jill Roberts around. She turned on her knees and smiled at Walker.

"Hey, Sar', how's it going. I could use some help here bringing the Nazi Bitch around. She has information we need to find Chuck Prime. How's about a little help here?"

"Hansen, Chuck's right there. Look! What the hell game are you playing?" Now she was pissed. And confused. And a little afraid…

"He's my Chuck, Sarah. He's Charlie from now on. We're trying to find your Chuck. We're not sure who the Chuck on the table is. This bitch knows where Chuck Prime's at and I'm going to work on her until either she tells me or she's skinless. Can I borrow one of your knives?"

There were too many 'Chucks' for her to comprehend. She plopped down on her ass and put her head in her hands and fought not to cry. It was all too damned much for her to wrap her head around. She liked black and white. This situation had too much gray.

"Walker, we don't have time for you to melt down now. Pull your head out of your ass and help us here!" Carina had little patience for Walker now, especially when Chuck was still unaccounted for and this Fulcrum bitch might know where her's was.

Jill was moaning and Carina tore off the adhesive tape gag, hoping it really hurt.

"Roberts, I want to know where Chuck Prime is, understand. I'm going to start skinning you in a few seconds unless you tell me exactly where he is, what shape he's in and how to deprogram him – understand?"

Sarah squatted down beside Carina and took out one of her knives and started cutting off Roberts shirt. Her hand shook with the effort to control her emotions. Hansen was right. They didn't have time for anything but finding Chuck.

She leaned over and made eye contact with Jill and cut her bra off. Jill flinched and Sarah smirked. She used her knife blade to move the remnants of her shirt off to the side, baring her breast.

"Skinning takes too long and is really messy. We don't have the time. I'm going to cut off your nipple, Jill, and if you don't tell me where Chuck Bartowski is, I'll hack off your entire boob, got me? No one will ever want you again, assuming you don't die from blood loss. Now, last chance. Where's Chuck Bartowski?"

She jabbed the tip of her index fingernail into the center of her nipple and Jill screamed and started blubbering about labs under the complex and the special cells used for the Primes and the command phrases to purge the Fulcrum download from the cul-de-sac that made programming him possible.

Carina laughed. Sarah hadn't even drawn blood and Roberts had cracked like an egg and told them everything they needed to know. Except for his condition.

"Is Chuck alive, Roberts? He's your ticket to a life underground rather than the needle." Carina was equally as desperate and threatening.

"Alive. Maybe. I don't know. I haven't seen him in a week, maybe 10 days. The clones aren't allowed to ever see the Primes. It upsets their programming. We just harvest from the Primes and when we have enough, we dispose of them."

"How many others are there, Roberts? How many other people have you cloned?" Casey was leaning over the kneeling agents and had his pistol pressed against her forehead.

"Six others. Minor agency department heads. Mostly in HR so we can advance our own people into positions of command and control. We've placed them in almost every intelligence agency in DC. It was easy."

Casey's cell chirped and he answered with a hurried "Not now, General. We have a situation here that…" He listened carefully, nodding his head.

"Yes, there's a road about 3 miles long that fronts the Clinic we're in. It's hard cement and macadam and straight as a board."

"Good. We'll be waiting. I'll text you our GPS coordinates. We have two 'duplicates' here and Roberts is our prisoner."

He listened for a few more minutes then closed off his phone and huffed a breath that sounded like disgust.

"That was Beckman. A C-123 will land here in about an hour and we'll board and go to the Fulcrum complex. The Mexican government is making 'sovereignty' noises and we're supposed to return to FT Hood for 'processing'."

Carina stood and looked at Casey, fearing the worst. "What's going to happen to Charlie and the wounded one, Casey? What did Beckman tell you to do?"

"She told him to 'dispose' of us, Carina. Isn't that right, General Casey? Too many loose ends and too many embarrassing questions to deal with, right? No one will know. We'll just disappear into shallow graves, probably in Mexico." Charlie had unhooked the transfusion and picked up Jill's pistol where it had been forgotten on the floor.

"Casey, is he right? Is that the plan?" Carina was pale and shaking with anger and Jill just laughed at how naive Carina was.

"Of course it's the plan. Fulcrum's no different than they are, Hansen. They're just 'legitimate' whereas we're on the outside, the rebels. They'll kill you too, Hansen. You know too much. Isn't that right, Casey? You'll probably end up 'disposing' of Walker and Bartowski Prime, too, if you even bother to look for the detention cells."

Jules spoke for the first time and her voice was cold and calculating.

"No one is killing anyone. Drop your weapon, Mr. Casey, and put your hands up. Charlie, you and Carina take my truck and the wounded Chuck and run. There's money, basic medical supplies, a pistol and shotgun and directions to a safe place in the toolbox in the truck bed. I'll surrender when their transport lands. Go quickly and don't come back, ever."

Casey turned and put his pistol on safe and thrust it into the waistband of his pants. "You're right, Dr. Morgan. No one is killing anyone. You and Carina take the guys and whatever you need and run to this 'safe place' of yours. Walker and I will clean up here and then fly down to the Fulcrum site and find Chuck and then we'll play it by ear."

"Casey, you told Beckman that you had 'duplicates' and Roberts. How…" Sarah was confused but hopeful. Maybe this whole clusterfuck would have a happy ending after all.

"There's a lime pit behind the barn. When I have to euthanize an animal or a pet I bury them there. The quick lime takes care of the remains. Mr. Casey followed his orders and put the bodies in the pit. Isn't that right, Mr. Casey?"

"Well, considering we're going to be related in a sense, call me John. And yes, that's exactly what happened. Roberts is going to keep her big mouth shut because I'm all that stands between her and the needle. Maybe she'll 'escape' during the confusion. We'll have to see what happens in Mexico."

Carina laughed and hugged John and then grabbed Charlie by the hand and went over to help Jules with the wounded Chuck. "Y'know, Jules, this is going to be confusing as hell keeping track of who's who. Going to be fun though."

Julia ignored the pleas of her 'sister' to help her or at least talk to her and left, never looking back.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah and John stood in the parking lot watching the vet's truck tear down the road, south towards Mexico.

"Think they'll make it, Casey? I hope so."

"Yeah, me too. If anyone can pull this off it's Hansen. She's got contacts and money stashed and I'm sure she has more safe houses and hide sites than anyone suspects. OK, they tried to make a run for it and we followed our orders. A rancher came by with a sick horse and we had to dispose of the bodies and make up some line about Jules leaving on a family emergency and leaving us here to close up the clinic and take care of the stock. OK?"

"Works for me. What about Roberts? She can't be trusted, Casey. She'll sell us out in exchange for her life. Beckman will believe her and we'll be…"

"I guess I forgot to mention that Jill tried to run with them. My bad. I'll take care of it. You stay out here and watch for the transport. She's got nothing to tell us anyhow. We know where Chuck is and this project of hers dies with her. You understand that, don't you? No one can have the knowledge she has. Imagine Beckman with the capability of cloning someone? Monstrous!"

Sarah shuddered and tried not to imagine what Beckman would do. "Casey, did Beckman order you to kill Chuck, too?" She had her pistol pointed in his general direction.

"If he can't flash, yeah, but I can't kill my future brother-in-law and ever look Ellie in the face again. Or you, either. And if I'd 'disposed' of the clones, Chuck would never forgive me. You know how he is about family."

Fulcrum Research Labs (aka Winter, Nevada)
Mexico

Sarah leaned against the door jam and wiped the vomit from her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. Casey had his arm around her and was trying to lead her away from the sight and smell of what they'd found when they opened up the sealed door to the 'special lab' as the sign read.

"We need more light and I don't think we should go in there alone. Go up and get some help. I'll see if I can't find some emergency lighting that wasn't fried by the EMP pulse."

"No. I'm OK now. The smell just knocked me for a loop, that's all. I'm OK. We need to – we need to find his body and confirm it. Ellie will need closure."

She pushed herself off the wall and walked into the lab. Her maglight reflected on the surfaces of the glass tanks where the clones were 'grown'. When the EMP pulse fried the labs, the electricity powering the tanks failed and the clones within them drowned or suffocated in their liquid-filled 'wombs'. There were rows and rows of tanks with dead clones in them. The stench was horrible.

"C'mon, partner. Let's find the detention cells. That's where Roberts told me he was being held. Sarah, come on!" He tugged on her arm and moved her flashlight beam away from the floating corpse that looked exactly like Bartowski. He knew this was killing her soul but she was right. They all needed closure.

He cupped his hands and shouted loudly "Is anyone here? I'm Major Casey with the NSA!"

Sarah started to say something but he motioned her to be silent. He'd heard something – a voice?

He called out again and this time he heard a woman's voice and they ran carefully to the sound of her voice. Casey swept his beam to the right and saw several small cells covered with thick wire fencing.

"Over here, Major." He followed the line of cages, for that's what they really were, until his beam revealed a woman covering her eyes from the bright light.

"General Beckman?" He almost dropped his flash in surprise. If it was Beckman, she'd probably never forgive him for his reaction.

"Sarah, it's the General! Stand clear. I'm going to shoot out the lock and get you out of there!" He stepped back and fired twice and then pulled open the cage door and stepped in. She was wearing filthy hospital scrubs and was squinting in the bright light.

"We've been in total darkness since the commando raid. Please be careful with the light, Major. What's the situation?" She was back in command, even if she was filthy and smelled like an old cesspool.

"Ma'am, you said we? Who else is down here?"

"I'll answer all your questions in a minute, Major. Give me your pistol and flashlight, please." Casey complied automatically without thought.

"Now, both of you stand over by the door and pull up your shirts. Do it or I'll kill you both where you stand!"

Sarah looked at Casey and knew he was thinking the same thing. "The General has lost her mind." And she had a pistol.

"I won't ask again. Pull up your shirts. I want to see your stomachs."

Both complied and the general sighed and motioned them to her, returning the flashlight and pistol to Casey.

"I had to be sure. I had to be sure you weren't clones. They don't have umbilical scars like humans do, just a knot of scar tissue at the base of their necks. It's how you can tell. Now, Bartowski is somewhere down the line from here. Help me up and let's check on him. He's had a rough time of it. I haven't been able to get a response from him since yesterday – well, for some time."

It was all Sarah could do to hold herself in check as she and Casey helped Beckman over to the other cell.

The object of her frantic search was lying on the bare bunk with his back to the door.

"Chuck, it's Sarah and Casey and General Beckman. We're going to get you out, Chuck. We got Roberts to tell us where you were and we got here just as soon as we could." He wasn't responding.

"We haven't had any food or water since the commando raid and I think he pissed them off earlier because they skipped his 'mealtime' and water and beat him instead. Get him out of there, Major. Sarah, you call and get a medical team down here. There are four more here if they're still alive."

"Ah, General, what about your…replacement? How do you want to handle her?" Casey figured that Beckman, with little to do with her time, had formulated at least one plan to painfully eliminate her substitute.

"I'll handle her. When we get the survivors out of this hell hole, Major, blow it up! I want nothing left to allow anyone this technology, understood?" She knew how much Casey loved blowing things up.

"Yes, ma'am!" Casey called the detachment commander and told him to have a demo squad bring down enough explosives to blow this place to hell.

Sarah had run to the cell, shot the lock out of the door and was now sitting with Chuck, holding his head in her lap and giving him small sips from a water bottle she'd brought along in her pack.

"Not too much, Chuck. You can have all you want but not all at once. I don't want you getting sick. I have plans for us, sweetheart. I was so wrong back in Burbank. It took losing you to make me realize how much I loved you and I promise to show you how much every day for the rest of our lives."

"That's a ...nice thought, Sarah." From his patronizing tone, he didn't believe her.

She looked away. She would stay with him. She would keep her promise.

He closed his eyes and she thought he'd passed out or worse. "Chuck! Stay awake. Don't leave me alone. I've been alone too long. Please, stay with me, baby. Help's coming."

His eyes fluttered open and she saw him grimace. "Beckman's probably... got a nice bunker already... picked out and you'll be gone. They know...I'm the intersect."

"Let's get you out of here and someplace safe. Ellie knows you're alive. Casey told her. Chuck, Casey and Ellie are together. She's happy and so is he. He's different now. I'll be with you all the way, Chuck. I won't leave you again. Trust me."

"Sorry, I'm all out." He closed his eyes and sighed. He was so afraid he was going to die alone in the dark and that his clone would cause havoc on his friends.

She felt a surge of anger and quickly tamped it down. He had every right to feel the way he did considering everything that had happened to him in the past months. Every right. She had a long battle ahead of her to win back his trust. She hoped she still had his love.

"Hush. You're safe now. You'll be healthy in no time and we'll go on a vacation – yeah, a vacation. Just the two of us. Chuck? Stay with me, Chuck. Chuck?"

The surviving hostages were taken by air to an undisclosed location that turned out to be a small hotel on the outskirts of San Antonio. The entire facility was taken over by the NSA and teams of physicians and nurses.

After stabilizing their patients, they started the long process of debriefing.

No one was exempt, not even the General. Her debriefing was conducted by Major Casey and the results were sealed until Beckman assumed her rightful position. Casey was surprised but pleased at how she heaped praise on Bartowski for keeping up the spirits of the hostages even after the lighting failed.

"Major, if you were on a desert island and could only take one kind of sandwich, what would it be? What would be on it?"

"Ma'am? I – I never thought about it."

"Don't. You'll find yourself lost in your own mind and that's exactly how Mr. Bartowski kept our spirits up, making us think about something so ridiculous that we actually spent hours discussing the relative merits of Helman's Mayonnaise versus Miracle Whip!"

"Um, OK."

"I'm not crazy, Major. But I sure am hungry for a roast beef on whole wheat with mayo and lettuce and tomato and a dill pickle."

"Um, I'll – I'll see what I can do about that." Casey excused himself and went in search of someone who could run an errand – to the nearest deli.

Chuck was a mess and was convinced that this was just some double-blind operation to get him to cooperate. He'd made Sarah and anyone else who walked into the room bare their bellies for a 'button check'.

When the doctors briefed the team on his injuries, Sarah swore and left the room and returned to Chuck's side, automatically bearing her stomach when she walked in. She hopped up on the bed and took his hand in hers and starting updating him on the situation.

"Chuck, I'm going to tell you some things you're not going to like but I want you to know the truth so no one can snow you. We 'rescued you' and took you back to Ft. Hood and you insisted on being restrained because of some programming. You were afraid you'd hurt us. I mean, your clone. It wasn't you and I thought it was you and then your clone ran off with Carina and…Chuck, wake up, please? This is hard to tell once. I don't want to have to repeat it over and over."

APR