A/N: We are nearing the end. Thank you again for reading, and for your feedback. It's been amazing to share this story with you guys.
Thank you, JoeltotheD! And as usual, mxpw has done an amazing job with the beta. I distracted him with a lower words account, only to sneak away a tons of confusing stuff he had to clean up. He didn't even complain about the extra beta time he had to do. Thanks, BetaMax.
Chapter 13: The Final Shawdown
December 8, 2009
Chuck let go of the passenger door and fumbled with his seat belt as the car revved up the road. "What's going on?" he asked, sucking in some air when he realized he had stopped breathing.
Sarah veered to the left. Another SUV—which seemed to care about traffic regulations as much as Sarah did at the moment, i.e. not at all—came into view in front of them. "It's Shaw," she said. She looked briefly at Chuck. "Are you okay? What happened to your arm?"
Chuck ran his hand across the damaged skin. It wasn't a good idea; he could barely contain his wince. Crashing his injured forearm into the passenger door as Sarah took another left turn, however, made him flinch. "I just scratched it against a wall. Is he going to the Five at this hour?" he asked, taking in their surroundings. Since Sarah's answer was to accelerate, Chuck hoped not.
"I doubt it," Sarah said. "How's Ellie?"
Chuck grasped the armrest before replying, "Everything went fine. What happened with Shaw?"
"He fled," was all she said. She sounded annoyed with herself.
"I wish you'd waited for me," Chuck said. "Or for backup. He has an Intersect, and," Chuck waited for Sarah to finish passing a car, "he's clearly out of his mind."
Sarah at least looked at him apologetically, but all she said was, "He can't get away, Chuck." She stretched an arm to the dashboard, and handed him a gun. "Take this."
Chuck hesitated for a second, cursed himself for being too distracted to remember his tranq gun, and clasped the handgun. "Fine," he said, "but don't leave without me again." His knuckles hurt, and the gun felt cold against his palm, where the skin had thinned and become sensitized due to his rope burn. After checking that the safety was on, Chuck tucked the weapon into his waistband. It was an exercise of balance to do so while the SUV zigzagged through traffic, never slowing down. He was barely done, when a car honked loudly as Sarah cut in front of it to follow the right curve. Chuck didn't remember this road being so sinuous.
He held his breath when a light switched red before them. Sarah didn't even seem to notice. They heard the sound of car tires skidding on the road behind them. Chuck looked back; a fleet of vehicles was spread in the middle of the intersection, but the other drivers seemed to have stopped on time to avoid each other. He realized that the left back window had taken a bullet, generating a windy hiss that his ears hadn't noticed until now. When he straightened back, Chuck was thrown against the car door once more. His shoulder ached.
"Sorry," Sarah said, after completing her left swing. "He knows where he's going."
Chuck's phone blared, aggravating the constant buzz in Chuck's cranium, induced by the heat butt he'd given the Ring agent earlier. He dug the iPhone out of his pocket. "Hey, Casey."
"Where are you?"
"We're chasing Shaw." Chuck paused when their SUV bumped into a car beside them, snapping off the mirror on his side. "Can you follow us with the GPS on my phone?"
"It's still not working," Casey said. "But I just hung up with General Beckman. I'll tell her. What's Shaw driving?"
"I don't know," Chuck said, rolling down his window. The gust of air it caused gave him a new terrifying appreciation of just how fast Sarah was driving. He hurried to grab the side mirror, left dangling from one lonely wire, and it gave way with a quick tug. "A black SUV."
"Toyota Land Cruiser," Sarah said.
Chuck repeated the information to Casey, and his partner hung up, saying he had to call Beckman back. Chuck threw the mirror onto the back seat and closed his window, before asking, "Whose car is this?"
"I don't know," Sarah said. "A customer, I guess."
"You stole it?"
"I didn't exactly have time to go to my car," she said. Chuck's eyes darted back to the shattered back window. The poor owner wouldn't get his SUV back undamaged. "Maybe if they'd given me my Porsche back…"
Chuck sometimes wondered if that wasn't what had annoyed Sarah the most about this whole rogue situation. He knew that was a ridiculous thought, but she really seemed to miss her Porsche.
Shaw's car skidded right, leaving black marks on the road. "It's a residential area," Chuck said. "What's he thinking?"
"He's thinking I won't drive as fast here," Sarah answered, expertly moving on the road to follow.
She cursed when, after a left turn, Shaw steered right immediately. She didn't have time to change direction and kept going straight ahead, before taking the next parallel street. Chuck thought they'd lost him, until Shaw reappeared from the right.
His SUV cut to the left and into a parking lot. The adjacent building looked abandoned. Shaw burst through the fence, and skirted the building to end up in a clay field behind it. Sarah switched on the windshield wipers to escape the cloud of dust that Shaw left in his trail. They'd be lucky if they didn't crash somewhere. How the heck did Sarah see anything in this mess? Chuck preferred to avoid looking at the speed; he felt dizzy enough already.
Shaw swerved to the left once more, coming back onto the road. This time, the honk Chuck heard wasn't coming from behind them. It came from the left, before a car hit along the rear of the SUV, sending them jerking wildly. Sarah spun the wheel quickly, counter-turning the motion. Her foot hit the floor.
She glanced at Chuck, before checking with him that he was okay. She didn't stop. If anything, by the roaring sound of the engine, she was speeding up even more.
Shaw kept racing around the area. "Seriously, he's going south now? He's just messing with us!" Chuck said. His right knuckles were so white from gripping the door; his fingers had probably forgotten what blood was. "There's nowhere to go here!"
As though agreeing with Chuck, Shaw shifted back toward north with two quick turns. Both SUVs entered an industrial area, slaloming between vehicles. Shaw was gaining speed faster than Sarah.
"Call Casey," she said. "We're losing h—"
She hit the brakes at once when Shaw veered into another parking lot. Shaw didn't slow down enough, and the black SUV slewed around on itself, before crashing against a garage door.
Sarah twisted the wheel violently, and Chuck heard himself scream as their own car jerked out of control on the gravel.
––––o–––––o––––
Sarah hissed as the safety belt unlocked and the pressure released around her. She refrained from rubbing at the base of her neck—her jacket had covered most of it, but Sarah could still feel a burn—and unbuckled.
"Chuck?" she asked, turning her attention to him. "You okay?"
"Uh…" He looked pale, but unharmed. "I think so," he said.
Not waiting, Sarah unfastened his belt as well. "We need to move," she said, twisting in her seat to look towards the garage door that Shaw's SUV had pierced through. She'd avoided crashing like Shaw, even if the car had briefly careened at the brisk maneuver she'd made.
Sarah stretched quickly. Even though she had humored Chuck when he had asked her to stop her sleeping pills Sarah felt more rested than she'd been since Lisbon. In truth, if it wasn't for Chuck's sometimes agitated slumber, she really wouldn't have any problems sleeping anymore. She was finally feeling her head clear, able to really think; she was on her game.
They could get Shaw.
Getting out of the SUV, Chuck followed her lead without explanation. It was still a little strange, and she had to curtail her protective instincts most times, but Sarah was getting used to this partner thing with Chuck. Despite her initial reservations, she couldn't deny it: she kind of liked it.
They approached the building carefully, guns in hand. Shaw's car was empty. The airbag had triggered, and the driver door's left open. Shaw seemed to have scurried into the building. There were stacks of what appeared to be wood products inside—some tree trunks, but mostly wooden boards. Lots and lots of wooden boards.
"Great," Chuck said. She looked at him. "All this dust is just what my allergies needed," he added, wrinkling his nose.
Sarah rolled her eyes, in spite of the smile she felt tugging at her lips. He did have a point. She could feel the irritation creeping down her respiratory tract too. The air was full of wood dust, likely from woodchips, she assumed. The emptiness of the warehouse/factory—whatever this was—didn't allow for much talking, however, so she shushed him as they made their way inside. Shaw could be anywhere.
"Maybe we should wait for Casey and backup," Chuck said, lowering his voice.
"And let him get away again?" Not going to happen.
Sarah saw Chuck's lips purse. "He's dangerous," he said. "And he wants you dead."
"Which is exactly why we need to stop him," she replied.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
She twirled to try and reassure him. If they were going to stop Shaw, they needed to be smart and focused. They couldn't afford to make mistakes—like, she realized, getting circled by four Ring agents as they were right at this moment.
It cut her short. "I can see your point," Sarah said, as she faced Chuck. Shaw didn't end up smashing that garage door by chance, after all. It was a trap.
Chuck's eyes were a little wider, but he wasn't dismayed by the turn of events. He tilted his head slightly to her left, and his eyes rolled back in a flash. She waited for his signal, and soon they were disarming the two men closest to them on the left, unfortunately losing her own gun in the process. A few punches, and both she and Chuck had thrown the two men into each other, synchronizing as though they'd done this forever.
"Duck!" Chuck said.
Sarah dipped to the floor. Chuck's foot flew above her in a roundhouse kick, hitting a third man behind her by the sound of the wince he let out. She didn't take the time to check. Crouched, all Sarah could see was the fourth man—woman, actually, coming at her. Sarah pushed off of the ground with her hands, and stretched out her legs to sweep the ones of her assailant from beneath her. Standing up, Sarah saw that one man was back on his feet.
"Behind you!" she told Chuck.
Chuck avoided the man's attempt to grab him. He elbowed the thug roughly in the gut. A glimpse of movement from behind her told Sarah that the man Chuck had kicked was still conscious. She turned to swing her fist at him—making sure he'd be napping for good. Looking back, Chuck had blocked the Ring agent with his arms in front of him. Sarah kicked the man violently on the back, pushing him forward. He crashed head-first a stack of wooden boards, which collapsed in a mess.
"I can't hit a girl," Chuck said about the female agent readying herself to launch at him.
While snatching a board, Sarah heard Chuck's yowl as the woman jabbed him in the face. "I can." She clobbered the last remaining Ring agent with the board, and knocked her out.
Chuck doubled over to catch his breath. She couldn't blame him, but Sarah focused on looking around. Shaw was either gone, taking advantage of the distraction, or coming for them. Instinctively, she moved behind a shelf, feeling exposed in the central alley.
"Boy, that's exhausting," Chuck said, before straightening up and giving her a doting smile. "But pretty cool, too."
She smiled back—until Shaw spoke.
––––o–––––o––––
"Walker, I know you're here," Shaw said.
Chuck froze. The voice, echoing around the building, came from behind him. At the sound of a handgun's safety going off, his arms lifted in the air, almost out of habit. Keeping his stare right in front of him—Sarah had had the time to hide and he didn't want to give away her position—he spun around.
"You're not the one I wanted, Chuck," Shaw said with a shake of his head, "but I guess I'll make do."
"Yeah?"
"Walker killed my wife." Shaw kept his voice high as he walked slowly towards Chuck. "It seems only fair to kill you, too."
"An eye for an eye?" Chuck asked. He hesitated for a second. Should he try to downplay his and Sarah's relationship? They weren't married. How serious did Shaw really think they were? He set aside the thought for later. "That's justice for you?"
"Well… That's a start, I guess." Shaw stopped at about ten feet, next to one of his men lying on the floor, and looked around—no doubt searching for Sarah. "Besides, you're no better than her," he said. "You work for the same people. The ones who lied and used me."
"Is that why you killed Skinnard?" Maybe, if they kept chatting long enough, Sarah would find a way to end this. That's what she did, after all.
"You did your research," Shaw said. "I'll give you that." He smirked in a way that could almost be mistaken for pride, but Chuck knew it was just the same condescension from his ex-superior as earlier. "Turns out they weren't the only ones who had lied," he added nonchalantly.
"She was guilty," Chuck said.
"Maybe," Shaw conceded. So he knew; Skinnard had talked. "Doesn't make it right."
"But this," Chuck said, motioning between them, "does?"
Shaw laughed. "It's not about making it right anymore, Chuck. The CIA played me," he said. "The Ring Director played me." He paused. The little spark in his eyes that usually conveyed his rage was different, Chuck thought. It felt more chaotic, more amused too, almost irrational…crazy. "Well, I can play too."
"So this is revenge," Chuck said.
"Something like that," Shaw said with a shrug. His foot prodded at the man on the ground, and rolled him onto his back without care. The Ring agent moaned but didn't wake. "I see it more as, you know, freelancing. Now that I'm the new Ring Director, I can serve my interests."
"What about my dad?" Chuck asked. "Do you really think he'd help the man who killed his son?"
"Probably not. On the other hand, he'd probably do it to save his daughter." Chuck instinctively stepped forward at the mention of Ellie, feeling his emotions key up. It only made Shaw laugh again. "Exactly," he said.
The man was out of control. He didn't answer to anybody but himself anymore, and he'd stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Civilians be damned. Chuck's jaw clenched at the thought of what had happened at the Buy More. Images of the frightened hostage came back to him; Morgan, Awesome, and Ellie. Saving Sarah's life had been good enough of a reason to stop Shaw before, but it'd become a lot more complicated than that today—a lot simpler too.
The sound of machinery cut through the air. They both turned in its direction, and Sarah materialized out of nowhere. She kicked the hand holding Shaw's gun. He lost balance for a moment, but didn't loosen his grip on the firearm. Sarah's fist thumped his chin, but the man shook off the hit without as much as a grunt. Chuck realized that Shaw was flashing. The other man, who had folded over following both impacts, charged forward—he took Sarah by the waist. Her back was thrust into a pile of timber, taking the breath out of her.
It sprang Chuck into action. Sarah hollered when the back of Shaw's gun smashed into her shoulder, before Chuck could grab both of Shaw's arms from behind. The two men staggered backward in a struggle. Chuck gritted his teeth; he swore that the man had super-human strength. Chuck still managed to make Shaw relinquish his weapon, which bounced noisily on the floor.
Because he'd been listening, Chuck heard another man's moan as well. He took a few seconds to glance sideways. The Ring agent that Shaw had prodded at earlier was trying to sit up. He screamed when a knife skewered his chest. Sarah never disappointed. Chuck couldn't help but smile a little at the thought, until Shaw managed to free himself, and face him.
Shaw threw a right hook that Chuck blocked, only to receive an uppercut. Chuck bit his tongue, and felt the blood pervade his mouth. He couldn't help but spit. Lifting his eyes from the red spurt that had plummeted from his lips, Chuck saw the image of fury. Shaw unceremoniously gripped Chuck's biceps and shoved him to the side toward the floor. Chuck's cheek scratched against the ground as he realized that Shaw's determination, along with the Intersect, might make him the biggest adversary they'd ever faced.
From his prostrated position, Chuck heard several jarring cries coming from Sarah. He blinked and forced himself to twist his neck to get a look. Sarah and Shaw were now engaged in ferocious hand-to-hand. Shaw might have had the Intersect, but Sarah was clearly a woman on a mission. She was returning blow for blow, making Shaw retreat as they disappeared from Chuck's view into an alley between shelves.
Chuck took a deep breath as he prepared himself to get back up, listening to every sound Sarah let out in her fight. His head was suddenly pulled back by his hair. Chuck groaned at the pain, before he blacked out.
––––o–––––o––––
Sarah's eyes watered as her shoulder exploded in pain. She blinked. The butt of Shaw's gun had already done some damage, but this time, she was pretty sure Shaw had dislocated it.
She'd care tomorrow.
The move had forced him to lean close. Lifting her knee into Shaw's stomach to get some space, he tumbled backwards and slammed against the metallic stairs of a platform. He righted himself, gripping the rails on both side of the stairs, as Sarah punched him one more time.
She couldn't feel her knuckles anymore, but the blood covering them was starting to stick.
Shaw still had it in him to deflect the next blow, and swayed up the stairs. Sarah followed him. The machine she had wired to make her earlier distraction was still going. Sarah hadn't been sure what it was for, but the machine had reminded her of one of the movies she and Chuck had watched in Seattle. It'd given her the idea to switch it on. A conveyor belt was leading a bunch of timber inside now—probably heading to be cut into chips, considering the boisterous sound and the dust that was flying everywhere.
Sarah ran her fingers across her eyes at the thought—grit and sweat were accumulating on her face, making her eyes sting—and her mind wandered back to Chuck, briefly. Where was he? She'd heard a commotion where she'd last seen him earlier, but she couldn't make out anything over the deafening hubbub created by the machine.
Reaching the top of the balcony overlooking the machinery—likely for maintenance and surveillance—Shaw planted his feet, and his eyes rolled back once more.
Sarah sped up; she had a second, literally a flash, to use to her advantage. By the time her good arm extended in front of her, Shaw's hand had landed with a death grip around her forearm to stop her. Damn Intersect! He twisted, and Sarah had to kneel sideways under the pressure.
Shaw's usual smirk came back full blast onto his face. "You didn't think you'd beat the Intersect, did you?"
Sarah tried to struggle, but her throbbing left arm was useless, and Shaw only wrenched the other more. His nails sunk deep into her skin. She looked down, unable to take his victorious expression any longer.
Her gaze first followed his other hand as he reached toward his waistband, before Sarah noticed that she had been right. The wood chipper appeared clearly below them now. That was her last thought as a knife loomed in Shaw's hand. She had to admire his choice of weapon to end her. It fit.
Sarah wouldn't just let him cut her throat, though. She hadn't survived the last six months, and everything she and Chuck had gone through, to give up now.
With a deep, strained breath, she mustered her last strength and leaped forward. She collided into Shaw. It hurt her trembling left limb like hell, but it had the desired effect. Shaw wavered in an effort to maintain his balance—finally releasing Sarah's forearm—but they were on a narrow balcony. His left foot tried to find purchase on something solid, but there was nothing but air behind him.
Shaw fell.
His scream was only covered by the screeching sound of his knife falling into the wood chipper. Suspended in the air, hanging from the balcony by one hand, Shaw glanced at Sarah.
His usually blank face was displaying for the first time an emotion she'd seen often in the people she'd encountered in her line of work: fear. Fear for his life.
The following seconds seemed to last forever. Sarah stood up slowly, laboriously as the pain—everywhere—seemed to intensify. She didn't let her eyes leave him. This was it.
It was over.
"Sarah!" she heard from below.
Shifting her eyes toward the sound, she spotted Chuck, who was looking up at her and Shaw. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief; he was okay. His glance went to the wood chipper, and she didn't know what the thoughts crossing his mind were at that moment.
"I'm fine," she shouted, and gazed back at Shaw.
His fingers were weakening. He wouldn't last much longer.
Sarah sighed heavily. She bent slowly to grab the knife in her ankle holster, and looked around her. She threw the knife, and didn't miss—she rarely did.
The targeted red button, which she'd assumed to be the emergency stop, engaged. The machinery slowed down, and eventually came to a halt. As soon as it did, Shaw let go. He crashed with a thud, first on the chipper, and then rolled off with the impact, dropping to the ground.
The man wasn't even knocked out. He was too weak to get up, however, and scrambled. Chuck hadn't missed a beat. He welcomed him with a wooden board to the skull.
This time, Shaw was out.
Sarah's eyes found Chuck's once more. He looked in pain. Just like her, he was panting. His cheek was an unnatural crimson. His nose was bleeding, and Sarah ran the back of her hand against her own, realizing hers was too. Her shoulder hurt so bad, she'd probably collapse when the adrenaline wore off. Their clothes were destined to be burned, and they'd need a full day of showering to get the dust off them.
In spite of everything, though, a smile played at the edge of Chuck's lips, and Sarah, feeling a sense of relief overcome her, couldn't help but return it.
––––o–––––o––––
"Here you go," Ellie said as she handed Chuck a cup of coffee.
He accepted it with thanks, but said, "You don't have to watch over me, you know." He tried to articulate properly. His tongue had swollen after he'd bitten it. "I'm perfectly capable of making myself a coffee." He tried to sip on said beverage, before stretching out his neck to avoid his sister's hand. "Ellie," he whined, "stop touching it, I'm fine."
She looked reluctant, but she retracted her hand. "I wish you'd gone to the hospital," she said.
"We needed to come back."
"What for? I don't see what you're doing here that you couldn't have done there."
Chuck glanced over at an office, where Sarah was making a call. She'd tucked the phone between her head and the sling wrapped around her left shoulder in order to take some notes. Chuck assumed she was talking with Casey, but he wasn't sure. "I've seen a doctor, Ellie. He released me."
Ellie pursed her lips at that, obviously not happy with that prognosis. A team of agents hadn't taken long to arrive at the Wooden Board Ltd.—or whatever had been the name of that building—after Chuck and Sarah had apprehended Shaw. The team had taken over, securing the place and the unconscious Ring agents, while a medical team examined both Sarah and Chuck. Casey had gone with Shaw. "To make sure," he'd said. They wouldn't take any chances, in case the Ring would try to extract its Director.
Chuck was fine. The medics had cleaned up the scratches on his forearm and cheek, as well as the wounds to his hands; although his injuries were nothing compared to the cuts and bruises Sarah had. The Ring agent who had woken up and attacked him, managed to make him lose consciousness for a few seconds, minutes—Chuck didn't know. But he'd caught up to the agent before he could go after Shaw and Sarah, and with a little bit of physics, Chuck had taken care of him. His lips had a few cuts, he sounded like a toddler, but he hadn't broken his nose or anything else. He was basically just really, really sore—except for a probable concussion, of course.
"You at least need a CT scan," Ellie said.
"I'm fine," Chuck repeated, and saw that Sarah was coming back toward them. "Everything okay?" he asked.
"Mmhmm," she said, stopping next to his seat. "Beckman shouldn't be long now." Sarah skimmed her hand over the top of his forehead, where a bump was jutting out of his scalp. He shut his eyes briefly when she let her fingers linger in his hair. When he reopened them, he saw Ellie, still standing in front of him, with a facial expression that was a mixture of amazement and amusement—he didn't draw back when it was Sarah checking up on him. "You sure you're fine? Your eyelids are kinda dropping."
Chuck groaned. "I'm not getting any sleep tonight, I guess."
Sarah only smiled as she sat down near him, placing her free hand on his thigh. She had asked a paramedic to relocate her shoulder on the spot. It had looked painful, but she hadn't complained. In addition to the sling, she was sporting a bandage at the base of her neck and one of those things boxers often had on their nose. Other than that, they both had multiple contusions, but they were used to that by now. Sarah had to be as weary as he was, though, and she slouched in her chair.
"No, you can sleep," Ellie said.
"So you can wake me up every hour?" Chuck said. "Pass."
"You do need to rest," his sister insisted.
Chuck took a careful sip of his coffee. Yep, it stung. "Trust me," he replied as he placed the cup on the table. "After this, I'm not looking forward to any kind of physical exhaustion for a while." He frowned after realizing what he'd just said. Ellie's eyebrows had gone up, and her eyes shifted to his girlfriend.
"Noted," Sarah said, laughing. "We can watch that show that your brown t-shirt's from."
It took a lot of willpower not to gasp. "You want to watch Firefly?"
"Oh, boy," he heard Ellie say.
"Seriously?" Chuck added.
Sarah squinted at both siblings. "Well, now I'm not so sure."
"Firefly's awesome!" Morgan, still wearing his bulletproof vest, exclaimed as he reentered the room with Awesome. "You won't regret it, Sarah."
"How's the store?" Chuck asked.
"Everything's clear," Morgan said. "I've talked with Big Mike and I think he bought the story."
"All the hostages and the press have been told the same thing too," Awesome said, moving to hug his wife from behind. "All the agents are leaving, I think."
Chuck nodded, and with a smile, he asked, "Why are you still wearing your vest?"
"Oh, you know," Morgan said, sheepish, "it's kinda cool."
Everyone in the room rolled their eyes at him, but they all shared a laugh, until Beckman cut them off on Castle's main screen.
"Good evening," she said. "Chuck, Sarah," she added with nods as they both stood up to greet her. "Everything has been secured. You can all go home safely."
"What is gonna happen with the Ring, General?" Chuck asked.
"It's unlikely that Shaw will talk. However, we have his men, one of his laptops, his phone. We'll be able to use them, and hopefully find out more about what's left of the organization," she explained. "And as Shaw's vendetta was strictly personal, we believe you're out of harm, Sarah, but we'll maintain your protection detail as a precaution."
Sarah nodded. "What about what Shaw said about the Intersect?" she asked. She left out the unspoken question, probably so as to not alarm Ellie: was the Intersect pressuring Chuck's brain? He was wondering himself. He'd attributed his sleep agitation to stress, but what if there was more to it?
"We don't know," Beckman said honestly. "I've scheduled a meeting with one of our specialists for you, Chuck. We want to look into it. I won't order you to contact your father on the matter, but as a personal piece of advice, I think you should consider it. He has more experience with the Intersect than our scientists."
"I'll think about it," Chuck said, sensing Ellie's gaze on him. Of course, if his health was threatened, he'd probably contact Stephen, but he didn't want to bring trouble to his father. Or have to tell him he'd re-Intersected if he didn't have to, for that matter.
"Very well," Beckman said. "I also trust that what happened today will stay between us." She looked meaningfully at every person in the room. "The safety of our country is at stake."
Chuck rolled his eyes inwardly, but he knew Beckman was taking it upon herself to leave his friends and family alone. They all agreed, and the General wished them a good evening.
"Do you guys need a ride?" Awesome asked.
"No, we're good," Chuck answered. He frowned seeing Sarah and Ellie exchange a look, whose meaning he didn't know. "You can go home."
It had been a long day, and they were all tired. They didn't wait.
"So," Chuck said. He turned to Sarah, and placed his hands on her hips. Sarah leaned against him—he momentarily forgot what he wanted to say—and she brushed her lips against his, in a way he'd been getting used to during the past few days. Smiling afterwards, he asked, "What happens now?"
"Ellie's waiting outside," Sarah said. "You're getting a CT scan."
A/N: Epilogue coming by the end of the week!