"I'm getting worried," Bryce said as he paced the length of the living room.
"And I'm getting dizzy," Chuck told him. "Casey and Jo can handle themselves. I'm sure they'll check in soon."
"And what if they don't?" Bryce asked, stopping to look at him.
"Then the three of us will go after them," Sarah said as she handed Bryce a cup of coffee.
Bryce sighed and held the cup tightly. "We should have gone with them."
"Too many cooks in the kitchen," Chuck pointed out. "I don't know about you, but the five us on a raid together sounds a little disastrous."
"I do think it's very sweet how concerned you are," Sarah said teasingly as she sat next to him.
Chuck grinned widely at Bryce and then turned to her, widening his eyes emphatically.
Sarah blinked and then looked back at Bryce. "Really?"
Bryce frowned. "Dammit, Chuck."
"Sorry, buddy," Chuck shrugged. "Even if I tried to keep it from Sarah, she'd find out. I've learned it's just best to tell her everything. It saves time."
Bryce rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee. "I don't know why Beckman didn't just assign the two of you to get married…"
"Because Cameron James didn't want us," Sarah said. "He wanted you."
"We should go after them," Bryce said, switching the subject back.
"Casey doesn't like to be rescued," Chuck pointed out. "Especially when he doesn't need to be."
"Do we even know where they went?" Bryce asked.
"I have an address," Sarah said. "It's on H Street. Casey said it's abandoned and it's a good bet Quinn's there."
Bryce nodded. "And we stayed behind because…?"
Chuck grinned, amused. "Because Jo told you to back down, and you listened. Because you want Jo snuggles."
Bryce glared at him.
When she came too she hadn't left the basement. The only difference was that she was tied to a chair.
Jo groaned and shook her head out a little. "Casey?" she croaked out. That taser had hit her harder than she thought it would. She got no response from Casey, though and she squinted as her blurry sight cleared. A light had been turned on, and Quinn was standing in front of her.
"Welcome back to the land of the lucid, Agent Harvelle."
"Gee, thanks," Jo muttered, glowering up at him. "I get a gift basket, too?"
"Very droll," Quinn grinned. "I see why Agent Larkin is marrying you. You're feisty."
Jo narrowed her eyes. "Where's Casey?"
"Oh, he's around," Quinn waved a hand. "It's you I'm interested."
"That right?"
"Oh, yes," Quinn nodded, kneeling down in front of her. "You see, I planted this little trap for Larkin and Bartowski."
"Shocker."
"I was going to kill Larkin very, very slowly," Quinn told her, ignoring her jab. "And then I was going to extract the Intersect from Bartowski." He waved a pair of sunglasses at her. "And then play with his brain a little before I let him die."
"Cause that's the most original thing I ever heard," Jo muttered.
"It may not be inventive, but it would have been effective," Quinn said. He stroked her hair back and she jerked away from his touch. "But you…you're a little prize, because killing you would hurt Larkin much worse than just outright slitting his throat."
She struggled back, growling, but stopped when her phone rang.
Quinn smirked and lifted her cell phone out of the bag she'd had with her, and looked down at it. "Ah." He stood up and answered the call and put it on speaker. "Agent Larkin. How lovely to hear from you."
"Quinn," Bryce grated out. "Where's Jo?"
"Oh, she's right here," Quinn told him, lifting the phone up to her. "Say hello, Joanna."
"I'm okay, Bryce," Jo said. "Just tied up."
"Just tied up?" Bryce snapped, panic in his voice. "JUST tied up? Great! Good, you're just tied up!"
"Now is not that time to impersonate Bartowski," Jo told him harshly.
"Where's Casey?" Bryce asked.
Jo looked around the basement and finally spotted Casey's prone body on one of the large workbenches. "What'd you do to him?"
"Oh not much," Quinn shrugged. "Gave him a couple of elephant tranquilizers. Just to take the edge off."
"What do you want, Quinn?" Bryce asked.
Quinn considered this for a moment before answering. "The intersect. A million dollars. And your head on a stick."
"I'm not giving you the first two," Bryce told him. "But I'm willing to let you try for the third."
Jo groaned. "Dammit, Larkin."
"Isn't that sweet?" Quinn mocked. "The little woman showing concern for her hubby-to-be."
Jo glowered again and lunged forward, taking the chair with her, nearly tipping it over. Quinn gripped the back of it, keeping it upright.
"Be here in less than an hour, or I gut the girl like a fish."
"I'd like to see you try!" Jo spat out.
Quinn smirked. "I can arrange that. One hour, Bryce." He hung up the phone and dropped it onto the ground before slamming his foot down on it hard, causing a loud crack to echo through the basement.
"There's no way you're going alone," Chuck said as he stormed down the front steps of the row house after Bryce.
Bryce turned sharply to stare up at him. "Yeah, I am."
"Bryce-"
"He wants both of us," Bryce snapped. "And I'm not giving him you. So go back in there, and monitor me from here. I'll have my ear piece in, we'll be able to talk."
"This is suicide!" Chuck cried.
"So was exposing yourself to Volkoff to try and rescue your mother. Did you hesitate?"
Chuck stared at him for a long moment. "You really care about her."
"I don't have time for this," Bryce said as he headed for his car. "I've got less than an hour."
"We," Sarah said as she pushed past Chuck.
Bryce groaned. "Sarah-"
"She's my sister," Sarah snapped. "Get in the car, Bryce. I'm driving." She turned to Chuck. "Monitor our progress from here, Chuck."
Chuck hesitated. "Sarah…"
"Chuck, the man wants to slice open your brain and poke it with a stick," Bryce said. "You're not coming."
"He wants to slit your throat and you're going!" Chuck cried.
"I'm okay with that," Bryce said. "It's nothing new."
Sarah dashed back over to Chuck and kissed him briefly. "We'll be in touch, and we'll call for help if we need it."
Chuck frowned again, but nodded. "Okay. Okay. Be careful. I love you."
She grinned a little. "I love you too.
Chuck watched them climb into the car and speed off, before stalking back into the row house to set up base camp.
"You should have let me do this alone," Bryce said as they got out of the car in front of the dilapidated townhouse.
Sarah rolled her eyes as she let the way up the front walk. "You would have gotten yourself, and probably Jo and Casey killed. So no, I shouldn't have let you come alone, Bryce."
"Why do you think I suddenly need help?" Bryce asked, as he pulled a gun from the back of his pants and checked it out.
"You always needed help," Sarah told him quietly as she eased the front door open, her own gun at the ready. "Especially now, when your judgment is clouded."
"My judgment is fine," Bryce hissed.
"Quinn is after you," Sarah argued in a whisper. "And you are falling for my sister, so no. Your judgment is not fine. Now shut up and follow my lead."
Bryce huffed, obviously annoyed and followed her inside, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.
"Bryce, here."
He turned and found Sarah aiming her flashlight at a ruined door.
"Yeah, that's promising," he muttered, pushing the door open with his gun. It was dark and the stairs looked like they could give at any moment.
"Surprised Casey made it down there without putting his foot through," Sarah said.
"We don't know that," Bryce replied. He gave Sarah a grim look. "Cover me."
She nodded and let him move toward the stairs first, before following him slowly. She pointed her flashlight ahead of them. "I have a plan."
"Oh?"
Sarah nodded. "We grab Jo and Casey, blow the hot water heater, and then make a run for it."
Bryce frowned, but didn't turn around. "How much Mythbusters has Chuck made you watch?"
"A lot," Chuck's voice whispered from behind them. "A whole lot."
Sarah gasped softly and jerked around. "Chuck!" she hissed. "We told you to stay behind!"
He shrugged. "Which worked on lowly Nerd Herd supervisor Chuck, but not so much on Agent Chuck Bartowski. Remember? Full spy now? I feel like you forget sometimes."
"He wants you dead!" Bryce whispered.
"Yes, he does," Chuck nodded. "And he wants you dead, too. Look, Sarah had a good plan," Chuck whispered hurriedly. "You two deal with Quinn, I'll doctor the hot water heater. We'll have to run fast, though."
"We'll make it work," Sarah said.
Bryce took a breath and called down. "Quinn?!"
"Agent Larkin!" Quinn called back. "Lovely of you to join us!"
"Let them go, Quinn, this is between you and me."
"I don't suppose you brought agent Bartowski with you!" Quinn asked.
"You're not getting the Intersect, Quinn!" Sarah snapped, giving a pointed look to Chuck. "He's not here!"
"Then I'm afraid I can't let the Colonel and Agent Harvelle go! You'll have to come down and face me!"
The three of them slowly inched down the stairs. Bryce led Sarah to the left when they reached the concrete floor to face Quinn, while Chuck quickly and quietly ducked to the right, heading for the hot water heater and crouching down next to it.
"You got me," Bryce said, staring Quinn in the face. "Now let Harvelle and Casey go." He gave a quick glance to Casey, who looked like he was just starting to come to, and then to Jo, who was tied to a chair; her nose was bleeding, and she clearly had a black eye.
"Ooh, you really think it'll be that easy?" Quinn asked, inspecting the knife he held in his hands. It glinted in the dim light.
Bryce shook his head. "What do you think is gonna happen here, Quinn? A wild west-style showdown? Thirty paces? There's not even enough room down here for thirty paces."
"Good, good, good," Chuck whispered into his comm. "Keep him busy, I've got the safeties plugged up, and-"
Quinn dropped the knife and drew his gun from his pants, aiming it at Bryce. "Say goodbye, Bryce."
Sarah drew her own gun and cocked it. "Drop it, Quinn."
Quinn chuckled then and slowly shifted the gun from Bryce to settle against the side of Jo's head.
"I said drop it," Sarah growled.
"Quinn, don't," Bryce snapped. "Don't!"
Jo, for her part, looked completely unphased by this turn of events. "Really?" she asked, glancing up at him. "You're really this desperate?"
"Shut up," Quinn spat.
"Pressure is building," Chuck whispered into the comms. "But I don't know if it's gonna be able to build fast enough…"
"You're a sick, sad, crazy man, Nicholas Quinn," Jo said. "You don't even know what you're doin' anymore, do you? Luring us here for a big stand-off. I have seen some sloppy operations in my time, but this one might take the damn cake. And that is saying something. I know Dean Winchester."
"Shut up," Quinn snarled, pressing the gun harder against her head.
Before he could pull the trigger, Jo kicked up across her body, her heel hitting his wrist.
The gun went off and both Sarah and Bryce ducked. Chuck yelped when the bullet connected to the hot water heater he was working on.
"What the hell was that?!" Quinn yelled, shoving at Jo's chair, tipping it over.
"Well, there goes plan A," Chuck said, getting to his feet. "Plan A is officially busted."
Bryce got to his feet, blocking Quinn's path toward Chuck. "Don't move, Quinn."
Sarah got up too and frowned. "I smell gas."
"That would be because Quinn hit the gas supply line to the hot water heater," Chuck told them.
Quinn stared around at all of them before backing toward the cellar door that led outside.
"Don't move," Bryce snapped, raising his gun.
"Are you nuts?!" Sarah cried. "You can't shoot in here when there's a gas leak!"
"Quinn is getting away!" Bryce yelled as he stalked after Quinn, who was scrambling out the door.
"We have bigger problems to worry about," Chuck said, dashing over and untying Jo.
She got to her feet and stumbles a little, before Bryce dashed forward and helped steady her.
"Gimme your gun," she said. "You all get Casey outta here, I can get another shot in and blow the place. Make sure Quinn don't got a place to come back to."
"No way," Sarah snapped. "You are not staying behind."
Jo glowered at her. "Gimme the gun, Bryce."
"Don't give it to her," Sarah ordered. "Get her out of here. Chuck! Get Casey, I'll get the shot in and be right behind you."
Chuck's eyes widened. "Sarah."
She turned to him and kissed him for a long moment before pulling back. "Go."
He nodded grimly and dashed after to Casey, helping him to his feet. "Come on, Buddy, we gotta go."
Casey groaned, still mostly out of it from the tranqs.
Bryce lifted Jo into his arms and she struggled a little.
"Sarah-"
"I'll be right behind you," Sarah said. She glanced back at Jo. "I wasn't there for you and Ellen and the boys when you needed me, but I'm sure as hell here now." She waited until all of them were out the cellar door, before backing up to the door, aiming, and firing.
She scrambled out and up the stone steps, just as the blast hit and carried her and the rest of them ten feet from the now-exploded townhouse. Sarah hit the grass hard with a grunt, her shoulder hitting first; not hard enough to break anything, but she predicted some colorful bruises in her future.
"Everybody okay?" Chuck asked, sitting up slowly. He was speaking loudly, probably because of the ringing in his ears.
"We're good!" Bryce called, just as Casey gave out a groan.
Chuck nodded and turned to Sarah, his eyes worried. "Okay, Baby?"
She nodded and sat up slowly. "Remind me never to do that again."
"Be careful what you wish for," Chuck told her. "You might wake up to my reminding you not to spark off an explosion in a room full of gas every morning for the rest of your life."
"That doesn't sound so terrible," Sarah admitted.
"Good, because I know I promised you the most romantic date of your life for this moment, but I'm thinking getting out of this one alive works just as well," Chuck said. He scooted closer to her, taking her hands in his. "Will you marry me?"
Sarah laughed a little and nodded. "Yes," she said, before pulling him in for a kiss.
"Quinn got away," Jo said, attempting to get to her feet. "We should call this in."
Bryce sat up and took her by the arm. "Not so fast."
"I'm fine," she told him, yanking her arm away.
"Jo," he said softly. "Jo, just…stop for a second." He pulled her in close. "Just stop."
She inhaled sharply as he leaned in for a slow kiss, and her fingers grabbed onto his jacket.
Casey came too and when his vision cleared, he could see Bartowski and Walker, and Larkin and Harvelle lip-locking in the light of the flaming, exploded townhouse. He gave a grunt of disgust, and slumped back on the grass.
