Don't own Chuck

Chuck walked in the ICU but most everything was taken down and it looked almost like a normal hospital room. He had brought the girls and Sam wanted down now. She and Clara ran over to their grandmother. Ellie had to tell them both to take it easy but as she looked back she saw Chuck standing in the doorway looking around for something or someone. Devon came up to Ellie and whispered in her ear then Ellie bent over to whisper something in Mary's ear. All the time this game of passing the secret was going on they were looking at Chuck.

"Okay will someone tell me what's going on and where's Sarah," said Chuck. "I'm starting to get upset."

"Little brother can we go outside and talk," said Ellie as she looked over at Clara. "This needs to be taken outside."

"Very well but right now," said Chuck as he turned around and walked out without asking how Mary was. It wasn't that he was being rude but if they let the kids in with her she had to be doing well and he wanted answers.

"Little brother you need to calm down and listen. Mom says she's fine but she's not. Right now she needs to rest and take it easy as she recovers. You shouldn't be on your feet either. You're still pale and I bet if I take your pulse your heart is beating as fast as a race horse."

"You're not helping me any by avoiding tell me where Sarah is. She went after them didn't she? Come on give me some credit. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. How long of a head start does she have?"

"Chuck you can't go, you're still recovering. You won't do Sarah or anyone else any good if you pass out on her like you did in the lobby. Security is still pissed at you for taking out three of their guards."

"I did what? I don't remember… Are you sure?" said Chuck as he tried to remember but everything after leaving the operating room was foggy.

"Chuck I treated them. The General ordered you to take care of our mother. She doesn't want to stay in the hospital so we're medevacing her and you to Burbank later on this evening. Devon and I will take the Airstream back but Clara and Sam want to come with you two. Before you complain the General is also sending you help."

"I don't need help I need to be help and I need to go find Sarah," said Chuck. His headache was coming back with vengeance stronger than before.

"Your head is aching, isn't it? You need to calm down. Let me give you something but I swear if you keep up with trying to run off to Mexico I'm going to give you a sedative."

"All right I'll listen, I won't like it, but I'll listen," said Chuck. Ellie had inadvertently given him some place to start looking now he needed something to work on. Chuck noticed the hospital used electronic medical records so the doctors and nurses walked around with tablets keeping track of their patients.

"I'll be right back I need to run up to my room I think I left my wallet. Keep track of Sam for me. If I'm not back in time for the medevac you can come and get me."

"Chuck you're up to something?" But he just shrugged his shoulders then left. Going down to the elevator he got on and dropped a twenty dollar bill on the floor then he waited. Two doctors got on but neither had tablets on them.

"Excuse me I dropped that," said Chuck as he retrieved his twenty before either could lay claim. He waited until they got off then dropped the twenty again. This time another doctor got on who had a tablet in his pocket. Chuck pretended to be talking on his phone and looking the other way. The man reached down like he was going to tie his shoes but picked up the twenty. However, as he took the money Chuck took his tablet.

"Thanks Jack," Chuck said as he went to his room. There he powered the device doing a hard reset then he got to the splash window where he used jailbreak to open it to non-firmware downloads. From there he connecting to a Carmichael Industries secure site within minutes he had a secure profile downloaded and began navigating over the NSA secure site looking for active satellite feeds monitoring the border. If they went to Mexico he was certain the General would be using live feed to track them and Sarah would too.

"There you are love," said Chuck as he saw three Black Hawks heading for Calexico. From the satellite feed he discovered a drone that was flying what looked like a support mission. "What are you up to," said Chuck as he switched to IR. The whole building was hot from the daytime sun but now that the sun had set it was starting to cool off. He'd have to wait to get a better picture.

Chuck thought about calling Sarah but if he did then he risked breaking her concentration and she needed her head in the game. This whole thing had been carefully planned out for some time and now everything was coming together. They were behind the power curve and now they had to play catch up. But something here wasn't right he could feel it they found them too easily.

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A ground crew was ready to receive the CH-47. They quickly attached the bird to a tractor them pulled it into a sheet metal shed. Automated doors rolled closed to keep eyes out making a loud noise as they closed. Lights inside immediately came on as a man in a white jump suit signaled Max to lower the tailgate.

"Okay everyone out," yelled Max, "end of the line let's go." Max's men with Gaez and Amy piled out the back and were herded off by men in white jump suits. They were led to the back of the building then down a ladder.

"This way follow me," said Max as he led them to what looked like a mini open train with two wagons. "Everyone onboard and be careful where you place your feet around the track. The train is electric. Can't have a combustion engine running down here the exhaust would kill everyone." Max helped Amy on board then Gaez. He looked back and Rusty gave him a thumbs-up. "Okay hold on next stop Mexico."

"What is this," asked Amy as Gaez smiled.

"This was built by the Gentle Hand in one of our side ventures in human trafficking. The tunnel goes to a place we own in Mexicali. Normally the traffic is from south to north but for us we're going in the opposite direction." Gaez noticed the men in white jump suits were stopping behind them then getting out. "What are they doing?"

"Well we expect that soon there will be people after us and it will only be time before they discover this tunnel so we're mining it with bombs. When they explore it, this will become their grave. We're almost there," said Max as their car slowed down then came to a stop. They walked up a set of steps then came out in a seedy bar in the barrios of Mexicali.

"Enrico," yelled Augusto as he threw his arms around a man. "Enrico this is Amy, Amy this is Enrico my brother and the man who got us out of that horrible place."

"It was my pleasure. How could I let such a radiant flower languish in that hole," said Enrico as he kissed her hand. "You never told me she was so lovely." Max coughed to get Enrico's attention. "Oh that's right. If you excuse me I've got to settle a debt."

"I'm sorry for interrupting but my guys have an appointment at another bar for some serious drinking so if you don't mind we've delivered you your goods."

"Yes you did," said Enrico as he signaled the bartender who pulled a large case from behind the counter. "In that you'll find the sum we agreed upon plus a small bonus."

"Thank you," said Max as he took the case from the counter without opening it then headed to the door with his men.

"Wait," said Amy as she whispered something in Augusto's ear then pointed at them. He smiled and nodded his head. "We were wondering if you'd like to earn some more money. There's a little wet work we'd like taken care of in Burbank and I think your guys have the skillsets required for the job."

"Anything is possible for the right amount of money."

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The three Black Hawks came in with noise reduction on to allow them to come in quietly. They landed on the other side of a hill from the farm and quickly took up position. Taking first the farm then surrounding the metal shed they stood by waiting for the order to breach.

"I don't like this," said Sarah. "They've caged themselves up. This doesn't feel right."

"I've seen perps do this before. They run to some place they think is safe then hold up in their rabbit hole waiting for the coast to clear then when they stick their head out bang I've got them."

"These are no common criminals. They've had time to plan and plot. It isn't by mistake they came here. This farm was bought out for a reason; everything they've done so far has been for a reason. If we rush in now people will get hurt," said Sarah. She found herself wishing Chuck were here because she knew he'd know what to do. She hated herself for becoming reliant on him but by the same token she liked it too.

"Agent Bartoswski, Marshal Dillon what are you waiting for," radioed General Beckman. She was watching from her command post in a van outside the hospital. She had decided to visit Mary before her transfer then news came about the impending operation.

"Nothing General, we just secured the perimeter. We're on our way in now," said Sarah as she and Kenny made their way to the front doors of the shed. Sudden all hell broke loose as rapid fire from inside peppered the doors. "Down" yelled Sarah as she grabbed Kenny pulling him to the ground. "Jesus it's the miniguns! Stay down." At two thousand round a minute the guns were out soon but the doors looked like Swiss cheese but only waist high nothing below.

"What the heck," said Kenny as he inspected the door.

"Come one, they're trying to get away," said Sarah as she ran in with a squad. "They zip tied the firing mechanism when they heard us then ran. The guns weren't aimed at anyone they just fired and swung back and forth on their mounts."

"Agent Bartowski," yelled one of the men in black then they heard gunfire. "We found a tunnel. They're men in it trying to get away."

"Stop," yelled Chuck over their comms. "It's a trap."

"Chuck, get off this band," yelled the General. "Let our people take care of this they don't need you interfering."

"They don't need you getting them killed either. The tunnel your man talked about leads across the border to Mexicali. I'll send you where it exits but don't go down it," said Chuck. "I'll explain everything but I used NSA's LiDar and did a ground survey that's how I found the tunnel."

"Go after them. I'll clear everything with the Mexicans after we get them," said the General then she turned to her men. "Go find Chuck and bring him here."

"General, someone has taken control of our drone. It's gaining altitude rapidly."

"Chuck, what are you doing with our drone? And don't tell me it's not you. You have some explaining to do."

"All in good time," said Chuck. "Listen I think the tunnel is booby trapped probably IEDs. Those people that your team engaged were left behind to activate them as they left."

"They set the miniguns to fire to bait us to follow," said Sarah as she looked at Kenny. "I knew something wasn't right."

"This is all theory but in the meantime Amy and Gaez are getting away."

"General, they've already gotten away," said Chuck, "and I'll prove what I said about the tunnel being booby trapped." Chuck sent the drone into a step dive, crashing in a spot that because of bedrock the tunnel came close to the surface. The impact of the drone broke through causing a shock wave that detonated the IEDs. The subsequent explosions shook the ground on both sides of the border which would be written off as an earthquake. Chuck looked up as two of the General's men walked in his room.

"Sarah when you get back you'll either find me at home or Supermax either way I'm waiting for you. I love you." The line dropped followed by static.

One of the men in black took the tablet from Chuck then they escorted him down to the lobby. As they were crossing they heard a doctor telling someone that he had misplaced his tablet but the other person didn't look very sympathetic.

"If you lose it you've got to replace it," said the man. "Those are the hospital rules." Chuck felt sorry for the guy but he had his own 'break it pay for it' coming in the form of a short pissed off Air Force Brigadier General and a crashed drone.

"Agent Bartowski inside," said the General as one of the men opened the car door for them and she had him get inside. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I could say the same," said Chuck as he got into her car taking a seat across from her not knowing where they were headed to.

"Chuck will you be serious," she said as she signaled the driver to put up the partition so they could have some privacy.

"Will you. You almost got my wife and my friend killed today charging down that tunnel and after what? We've been behind playing catch up from the beginning of this fiasco. You were just following bread crumbs they left. How did they even communicate with the outside world or with each other?"

"That's what I'd like to know. These are the depositions they were to sign I thought you might want to look at them."

"What are all these tabs," said Chuck as he glanced at both documents. "I supposed each was able to read and correct the others deposition. There's your means of communication. The words they had changed in each other's deposition," he said as he took out a pen and wrote out the hidden message. "Like I said this was planned. We need to bring in their lawyers; they had to have been involved."

"I thought about that but both were involved in accidents at the time of the break out. One fell out of a tenth story window and the other took a bath with a hairdryer either way both are dead."

"General we need to get out in front of this," said Chuck as the General's car pulled up at the airport next to a Lear.

"This is your stop," said the General as one of her men came over and opened the door. "Your next stop will be Burbank. Mary is already onboard she needs to rest and you're the only one she seems to listen to. I'm sending you some help along. I know this is useless for me to tell you but let Sarah handle this. Your job is to provide support and take care of your mother."

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Kenny and Sarah rounded up transportation then took some of their men and headed for the border. On the border; however, they were met by a group of Federales who baulked at allowing them to cross. Sarah had an idea what the holdup was but at the moment she couldn't prove it to Kenny.

"We're not just going to stand by and let you invade our country gringos," said one of the men. So until we have some sort of official orders you're going to have to wait on your side."

"This is ridiculous," said Sarah. "The Gentle Hand has bought these guys out and they're holding us up so Gaez and Amy can get away." She couldn't tell him she'd flashed on a few of them and knew what she said was true.

"We have to wait. I've got a phone call into a guy I worked with a Suboficial Martinez. Let him work this out before we cause an incident."

"You've got ten minutes after that I'm going over on my own and you guys can catch up," said Sarah as she studied the vehicles that passed. It seemed they were more concerned about inspecting vehicles coming north than south. "I'll be right back," said Sarah as she walked back inside the US inspection area.

The US Border Patrol had stopped a camper with two men inside to make a routine search of the inside then waved it through which was time enough for her to climb on the roof.

"We need to look inside," said the Mexican agent as they stopped the camper too. "Pull in over there and wait for an officer." They had him pull over next to ones they had previously been checked so as soon as they stopped she jumped over on top of one pulling out. Sarah was in Mexicali, Mexico alone and without back up. She felt her phone vibrate and knew who it was but she couldn't take it right then.

Passing by a balcony she jumped off then made her way through the apartment. In the living room a Mexican family was sitting on a sofa watching a telenovelas with Verónica Castro a re-run of Los Ricos Tambien Lloran. There was a baby sitting in the middle of the floor in front of them playing with a rag doll. She reminded her of Sam and Mr. Rabbit but she didn't have time to think she had to go. Out front she hailed a cab.

"I need to go to the bar El Veijo Cabrón," said Sarah in Spanish. "Do you know how to get there?" The taxi driver looked her over.

"Are you sure you want to go to that place. There are other bars that are… How do I put it, better suited for someone like yourself."

"Here's a hundred US take me to it then you can go," said Sarah. She sat back in the seat and looked out the window as the taxi started driving through some of the roughest barrios of the city. The ride itself was only ten minutes long so the driver made out like a bandit which was who greeted her as she got out.

"The place you want is right there," said the driver from his window. "Lady, are you sure you want to go in there?" Sarah didn't answer she just walked inside. Everyone in the bar went silent as she walked up to the counter.

"I'll have two fingers of Tequila and some information," she said as she looked up at the mirror sizing up everyone in the place. She noticed the bartender favored his left side probably because that was where he carried his piece. He was smoking a cigarette with a pack rolled up in his sleeve and a lighter in his shirt pocket hiding some sort of tattoo.

"Wouldn't you prefer a lady's drink instead may be a pina colada or a margarita? Here we drink ours straight or maybe with a little salt and lime."

"Set it up," she said. The men in the bar laughed as the bartender poured the drink. "No leave the bottle."

"You think you can drink all this? Well I'll join you then," said the bartender as he poured himself a drink then set lime and salt. They all watched her lick her hand then dipped it in salt and pick up a lime wedge. The bartender leaned over the counter close to her so close she could smell the nicotine on his breath.

"Oh, I also said I needed some information. But maybe you can offer me a cigarette first," said Sarah. "That is if it's not too much to ask for?"

"Sure," said the man as he took the pack out of his sleeve and handed her one. She had him mesmerized. This was something the old Sarah was good at.

"Can you offer a girl a light too," said Sarah. The men behind her were laughing and calling the bartender names but he wasn't listening. He took out the lighter and lit it. She leaned forwards then whispered. "Where did the people go that came up from the tunnel underneath your bar."

"Crap," said the man as his eyes grew wide.

Back at the border…..

Kenny's friend, Suboficial Juan Martinez finally showed up at the border. Suddenly everything that was 'no es posible' became possible and they were over. Juan got in their car and drove them to the bar. He kept shaking his head and cursing in Spanish as he took as many short cuts as he could when he found out she had gone on by herself.

"Kenny that's one of the worst bars in town we need to get there right away. We've had our eyes on it for a while but they're protected by some big shot in Mexico City. I'm telling you it's full of cutthroats and those are the nice guys. How could you let a woman go to a place like that?"

"You don't know her once she gets her mind made up there's no stopping her and the woman we're after shot her mother in law."

"What? She should thank her. Maybe this woman you're after could do me a favor before you bring her in." He caught Kenny's look. "Just joking."

"How much further?" said Kenny. He was more concerned what to tell Chuck and how he would react if anything happened to Sarah.

"Well we're here," said Juan pulling up out front. "I hope we're not too late."