The explosion rocks the conference room and the impact from the blast causes everyone one in it to hit the ground. Its within the partially destroyed smoke filled haze room that Sarah opens her eyes to feel someone tightly embracing her. When she turns her head to see who it is she sees its Graham who apparently threw his body over her in order to protect her.
As she comes to that realization, Graham opens his eyes and is somewhat noticeably disoriented. He quickly shakes it off taking a brief moment to look around and then looks directly at Sarah. "Are you okay Sarah?" he asked with concern."
"I'm okay…" she responded. "…thanks." she added.
Graham realizes what he did and quickly lets go leading him to immediately sit up. "Thank me later…" he retorted looking around. "…we still got to get out of here."
As she says that, Sarah and Graham suddenly hear a voice screaming within the haze of smoke in the conference room. "Federal agents! Drop your weapons!"
A sudden realization sets in upon hearing those words. She knows she would have to be the one to tell his friends and family about Chuck's death. Morgan, Anna, Devon, Big Mike, Jeff, Lester, the rest of the Buy More Employees, Chuck's employees at Whiz Kid Inc., and most of all Ellie. She's the one that would be most devastated by the news and would be probably be angry at her possibly blaming his death on her, which is understandable.
The close friendship would most definitely change between the two of them once she told her...all of them who she, Casey, and Chuck really were. She would be fully prepared to have an onslaught of anger come her way to the point where Ellie slaps her in the face. She immediately shakes those thoughts from her mind telling herself not to think about that for the time being because she would eventually cross that bridge once she gets to it.
She's always known the spy life and that is who she is but once she met Chuck everything changed for her. He gave her the key, the door to unlock, and inevitably walk through in order to establish a life as the person who she really is DeAnna Wexler. Yet, as Sarah Walker she would make a difference as Chuck did for the past 3 and half years. She wanted to continue to honor his memory by saving the world and protecting not only people in it, but also the one's she loves as well...the ones she cares about like her own family.
"I take back what I said earlier." she said.
"What?"
"That I quit." responded Sarah. "Chuck wouldn't want me to quit. He would have wanted me to continue the work that was started but with a new team."
Graham simply nods and is the first to stand up. He is about to help Sarah up when he's suddenly grabbed from behind locked in a bear hug. Sarah watches as Graham leans his head forward and with as much force as he can muster hits the person in the face with the back of his head. The impact stuns the unknown person in question just enough to loosen his grip to where he push the individual's arms up over his head.
He then gives a hard right elbow to their side and then a swinging back elbow to the back of their head. When the person is bent over he spins around grabbing the back of their head by the hair and with as much force as Graham can muster rams their face against his knee ultimately knocking him out to ground. From Sarah point of view it all happens in a matter of seconds.
Graham looks down to see its not Archer but one of his lackeys. A lackey he hasn't personally encountered. He quickly turns to Sarah who is absolutely stunned in disbelief at what she just witnessed. The wily veteran helps her up but then suddenly slings her forward ending up behind him. When Sarah turns around to face him, she sees him enthralled in a hand to hand battle with someone else.
After several palm strikes to the gut and face then a well placed side kick to the left knee, the unknown figure is on one knee where he is immediately dispatched as his neck is immediately broken. Sarah is completely awestruck at Graham's fighting ability and as he turns around she sees a whole new side of Graham that she has never seen before. He take a brief moment to gather himself checking the body for anything useful but is interrupted when he hears his name being screamed out.
"GRAHAM!"
Graham quickly turns to see Archer in a somewhat disoriented state aiming his weapon at him. He wasted no time in running forward full force grabbing Sarah in the process as Archer begins firing his weapon in his direction. They run not only towards the cover of the overturned table that was evidently knocked from the stage to the floor below. In addition, the wolverine insignia that now has a hole where its mouth used to be allowing easy access for a slew of armed agents filing out and taking cover all-the-while returning fire as well.
Sarah and Graham race over as a slew of bullets whiz past them leading both to believe its not just Archer shooting at them. When the two are in close proximity to the table they both dive over it but not before one bullet hits Graham in the right leg. When they both land on the other side they quickly pin themselves to the back of the table itself.
After a brief moment, the two find themselves flanked on either side of them by armed agents
Sarah's attention is focused back on Graham when she hears him growls in pain. She turns to see him wincing as he quickly grabs his left leg to where Sarah immediately takes notice. "You're hit." she said with concern.
"I'll live…" responded Graham. "…it went clean through." he added.
Sarah immediately rips the right sleeve of her black shirt and ties it tightly around his upper left thigh to control the bleeding. When she's done, she feels a hand on her right shoulder causing her to immediately turn to him in order to immediately speak to the agent. When she does, she is absolutely stunned as to the person who is kneeling right in front of her to her left.
"Hey partner…" Casey states expressing a smirk. "…miss me?"
"Casey!?" she said shaking her head. "You're supposed to be dead." she added.
"And miss out on the gunplay..." he grunted. "...not a chance." the proud marine smirked with enjoyment.
Sarah watches as a seemingly very much alive Casey peers over the table return fire. As she does, another agent appears kneeling in front of her and in stunned shock she sees that its Travis. "Sarah, are you all right?" he inquired checking her over for any injuries.
"I'm fine…" she said in disbelief. "…you're alive!"
"Its good to see you too Sarah." Travis responded. He turns his attention to Graham and is about to head over to him. "Don't worry Director we'll get you …"
Travis doesn't finish his sentence because Sarah immediately grabs him pulling him back and closely in to where he can only hear her. "If you and Casey are alive…" she pauses. "…then tell me where is Chuck?" Sarah asked with determined desperation in her voice.
Travis' only response is to lean forward a bit giving a nod for her to look behind her. Sarah slowly turns around to see Chuck kneeling right behind her checking on Graham and inevitably turns to see her with a smile on his face. It's the same unforgettable smile she has woken up to every morning since they moved in together. As she looks at him, her bottom lip begins to quiver and tears begin to form to where they being to drop fall down her cheek.
She slowly leans forward causing Chuck to think she's going in to give him a kiss but what he get is something much different…a slap him in the face. The slap comes as total surprise to not only Travis and Casey, but to Chuck as well. "What the…" he responded rubbing his cheek." "…what was that for?"
Sarah doesn't say a word as she looks at him with tears in her eyes at the man she love who she thought died in an explosion. The same man who is kneeling before her alive and well. So many emotions are running through at this point as she sees him rubbing his check wondering why she did that to him. It's at that point, Sarah grabs Chuck and kisses him hard not only in front of Casey and Travis, but in front of Graham as well.
XXX
Archer is still firing his weapon like a madman directly at the wooden table where Graham is currently behind. He's filled with rage and is about to runs towards Graham's vicinity when he's suddenly grabbed by the arm and stopped in his tracks. He immediately turns around pointing the gun at the person in question to which he found out is Khan.
"Archer we got to get out of here…" she screamed. "…now!"
"No…" responded Archer shaking his head. "…not till I put a bullet in Graham's head!"
Khan knows they are seriously outnumbered at this point. She has to get through to Archer that his vendetta against Graham is now pointless and they must make their escape now or face being apprehended. "If you love me Kirk…" she emphatically stated pulling him in closer to speak to him. "…then come with me or we'll never see each other again." she added nearly tearing up.
Archer has a conflicted look on his face as he looks back and forth from Graham's location to Khan. After what seems like forever for Khan, she sees Archer give a deep exhale of frustration as he chooses to go with her. They both make their escape out of the conference hall unable to accomplish the goal at hand much to the chagrin of Archer. As for Chuck and Sarah, they are still locked in a kiss when Sarah suddenly separates her lips from Chuck's.
As they both look at each other, they both hear the sound of a throat being cleared causing them to turn seeing Graham acknowledging his presence to the two. Chuck returns his attention back to Sarah who suddenly sees her leans forward to where he quickly put his hands up in front of his face. "Don't hit me." he blurted out.
"I'm not going to hit you." she replied with a mixture of confusion and happiness.
"Technically you did." Travis responded looking at Sarah then directly at Chuck. "I told you she was going to hit you dude. " he added.
To Chuck, the context of the word hit in regards to being punched in the face is totally different than being slapped in the face. In his own mind, its like the word captain in regards to Kirk and Picard. True, they are captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise but its too totally different class of starships. Kirk helmed the Constitution Class whereas Picard helmed the Galaxy class. He finds himself shaking his head in total disagreement.
"No she didn't. She slapped me. There is a difference" retorted the brown haired. "In order to hit me it would have to be with a closed fist. She used an open hand." he emphasized.
Casey can't believe what he's hearing and decides to put his 2 cents worth into the conversation. "How about I technically punch and slap both you numbnuts in the face." he spitted out interjecting himself into what he considers is the most stupidest conversation he has ever heard. "You two realize we're on a rescue mission right now so get it together."
"How did you find us?" Sarah asked looking directly at Chuck.
Chuck is about to respond when Casey interjects once again. "Tell her later Chuck. We got to get Graham out of here." he stated. "Sarah, you and Chuck get Graham out of here while Travis, the other agents, and I deal with these guys." ordered Casey.
"I need a gun." she requested.
Casey hands Sarah a spare to where she immediately pulls back the handle to ready her weapon for action. He also gives her an ear piece in order to communicate with her. She immediately places it in her right ear and as she does Graham makes a request of his own. "Give me a gun. " stated Graham. Team Chuck turns to look at Graham who is serious about what he just said, "I'm not letting you have all the fun." he said with a smirk on his face.
Travis pulls out his spare weapon handing it over to Graham. "Here you go Director." he responded giving a slight nod his way.
Graham nods back as his response. Its at this point Casey points over to an open door over at the right center of the room. "We'll cover you three while you make a break for it…" barked Casey. "…understand?"
All three nod leading Chuck to turn to Graham. "Can you stand sir?"
"Just help me up…" he responded. "…and I'll be able to manage the rest."
Chuck nods at his request and with everyone on the same page, Casey signals to Travis to get ready. As they peer over the wooden table, he nods as both men start unloading rapid fire shots leading Chuck, Sarah, and a injured Graham to book it towards the open corridor located at the right center of the room. It's Graham, Chuck, and then Sarah following closely behind the two of them quickly maneuvering around the debris in the conference room. They are about several feet away from the corridor when out of nowhere Chuck is tackled to the ground.
"Chuck!" Sarah screamed.
"Don't worry about me…" he screamed back. "…just get Graham out of here!" he added as he struggles on the ground with the unknown assailant.
Sarah stands there conflicted in wanting to help Chuck but her instincts as an agent tells her to get Graham to safety. He just came back from the dead and now he may not end up seeing him again. Her choice is made for the blonde agent when Graham's screaming voice snaps her out it. "Agent Walker lets go!"
She takes one last look at Chuck who is otherwise occupied at the moment. "Go! Go!" Chuck screamed.
Chuck's words cause Sarah to turn and follow Graham into the corridor. After disappearing through the corridor, Chuck attention is turned to the man that tackled him. When the man looks straight at him it's Archer best friend and black market arms dealer Malcolm Mudd. Chuck punches him in the face with a right cross but it doesn't have any effect on the portly man.
Mudd's response is to simply express a hint of a smirk on his face as he forcefully presses his left forearm down on to Chuck's throat. He then reaches back for something and when he brings it forward it's a military style knife and upon seeing it causes Chuck's eyes to widen. He adjusts the way he's holding it to where the blade faces down and coming ever so close to his face but is forced back as much as he can by Chuck's left forearm against Mudd's right wrist.
The all out struggle is back and forth but Chuck soon realizes that he's about to lose the battle. The blade is mere inches away from his face when he sees with his peripheral vision someone quickly coming up on the right side. "Hey!" Chuck hears being yelled out.
The spy who didn't want to be a spy in the beginning sees Mudd look up and then get hit right across the upper part of his body including his face with the top end of a chair. Mudd is immediately knocked out as he falls back on to his back. Chuck lays there catching his breath and as he does he sees Casey hovering over him looking at the man who broke a stool across his back at the pawn shop.
"Thanks Casey." said a thankful out of breathe chuck.
Casey responds with a resounding grunt as he tosses the remaining wooden legs of the chair in his hands on Mudd's unconscious body.
XXX
A long semi lit corridor seemingly stretches for miles with a small light at the far end shines brightly. Its eerily quiet as sporadic sounds of dripping water are heard echoing throughout the corridor. The sounds of dripping water is suddenly replaced with the echoing sounds of heavy foot steps of more than one person is heard stomping the ground. As the foot steps get heavier and heavier a female voice is heard.
"We're almost there!" the female voice screamed. "Just hang on a little longer."
"Don't worry about me Sarah!" the male voice screamed back. "Keep running!"
An armed Sarah continues running up the corridor towards the light at the end of the corridor. She is highly aware of not only what's behind her but she's certainly aware of who she has in front of her as well…Graham. The intensity of the situation is palpable as the two people are breathing heavily and after running what seems like forever the beleaguered C.I.A. director stumbles to where he falls to the ground.
Sarah rushes to his side all-the-while her weapon drawn aiming it down the corridor they just run up from. "Are you okay sir!"
The student and her mentor went through a tumultuous battle getting to this particular point and nothing would stop both them from escaping. She quickly looks him over for any additional injuries that he may have suffered. It takes only a few seconds to assess that he's fine despite suffering a gun shot wound to his left leg, which hasn't hampered him at all.
It was a amazing sight indeed witnessing Graham in action and from what she saw of her mentor he still had it. She had never in her life seen the absolute intensity emanating from his eyes, as well as, the smirk on his face as he apparently enjoyed getting into the mix of things against his much younger adversaries. Graham looks up at her as is about to respond when bullets start flying in their direction.
The two agents simultaneously draw their weapons firing several rounds down the corridor instantly dropping one of Archer's men. They continue to leave their guns aimed down the corridor anticipating the possibility of more gunfire. For the moment, things seem relatively safe allowing Graham to respond to his best agent.
"Agent Walker stay focused!" hollered an out of breathe Graham as he grits his teeth from the pain he feels in his left leg.
"How is your leg?"
"Don't focus on my leg. Focus on getting out of here and then we'll deal with my leg. That's an order!" he emphatically stated.
Sarah nods as she cautiously walks over to the fallen soldier with gun in hand. When she looks down she sees it's the dead body of the man who sat in the van with her along with Khan, Mudd, amd Archer…O'Brien. Its at this point, she suddenly has a feeling of deja vu as if she's done this before causing her to immediately look around at her surroundings. The long dark tunnel, the light at the end of it, shooting down one of Archer's men…it was all in her dream.
She vividly remembers the events afterwards as she contacts the rest of her team. Sarah knows that in her dream that all 3 of her teammates died leaving her in utter shambles, especially when it came to Chuck. The last time she saw Chuck, he was on the ground after being tackled by one of Archer's men. She decides not to contact Casey and Travis but instead immediately contacts Chuck.
"Chuck come in. Do you copy!" she calmly stated. She doesn't hear a thing causing her heart to not only race but it also causes her to imagine the worst. However, she refuses to let her dream become a reality causing her to try once more. "Chuck!" she yelled.
"Hey!" responded Chuck. "I heard you the first time." he added..
Sarah is absolutely relieved to hear Chuck's voice as a hint of a smile appears on her face. "Are you okay? Why didn't you respond?" she quickly asked."
"Yes to the first question and you didn't give me time to respond to the second."
She shakes head and can help but feel amused at what Chuck said. He always seems to make her smile or even laugh during a perilous situation. "How are Casey and Travis?"
She is expecting to hear Chuck respond back but instead hears Travis. "I'm deaf now and I think you busted Casey's eardrum."
"We got things under control Walker." Casey responded. "What's your 20?"
Sarah is again relieved to hear that her team is okay, especially Chuck. "I'm in a tunnel and I'm about to head out with Graham." she retorted standing next to him. "I don't know exactly where I am?"
"Don't worry, we know where you are."
Chuck response causes her to wonder how they know where she is. She quickly puts those thoughts aside and turns to look directly at Graham. "Let's move it."
"You don't have to tell me twice."
They run towards the entrance with Sarah bringing up the rear and at the same time aims her weapon down the corridor. She knows they aren't out of the woods yet as they both run as hard and as fast as they can towards the opening of the tunnel. They inevitably reach it but they quickly find an obstacle or two obstacles to be exact as they run out…an armed Riker and Sisko.
Sarah and Graham immediately stop in their tracks aiming their weapons directly at Riker and Sisko who do the same. From Sarah's point of view, the two men were able to escape firefight seemingly unscathed. An immediate standoff ensues with all 4 people aiming their weapons at each other.
XXX
"Put your guns down!" demanded Sarah.
"Funny…" Sisko responded back. "…we were going to say the exact same thing." he added.
"We're not here to shoot them." chimed in Riker looking directly at Sisko. "You can trust us." he said turning to Graham and Sarah.
As much as Graham is in considerable pain standing there aiming his weapon at the two men, he doesn't let Riker and Sisko see it. "How do we know we can trust you." inquired Graham.
Sarah doesn't trust them at all since they are still a part of Archer's team. In her mind, what happened in the conference room could have been all for show in order to lull both of them into a false sense of security. The two men put in a very convincing performance but the two needed more than just saying they can trust them in order to show they aren't being set up she thinks to herself.
She glances at Graham trying to read him. From what she can tell, he's definitely in pain as he puts more his weight on the right side of his body. She knows he's trying to be strong for her knowing full well he's lost some blood by the apparent trail that he's left since escaping the conference hall. He's come this far and if she knows Graham he will stand there until the two men put their guns down or he passes out.
The blonde agent witnesses Riker and Sisko glance at each other. They slowly lower their guns in response to Graham's question. "We didn't sign up for this." Sisko said shaking his head. "Archer is out of his mind."
Sarah turns to Graham to see what he thinks. He looks at the two men before and makes a judgment call. After a brief moment, he lowers his gun causing Sarah to follow suit.
"Where were you two running to?" Sarah asked
"There's a helipad just beyond those trees over there." Riker says pointing several yards away. "Archer thought of a contingency plan just in case things went sour."
"How many?
"Two." Sisko replied holding two fingers up.
"I know you two to be honorable men." "Graham painfully stated. "Pike would be proud of you two for doing the right thing."
"We are sir..." Riker nods. "...and we want to keep it that way."
As the Director of the C.I.A for well over 30 years, he's kept tabs on practically every agent whether they've crossed his path or not, especially those who have served under/with Pike. As a man who has known him for a long time, he can truly bring out the best in potential agents unlike him who can apparently bring out the worst. He had a way with him that you couldn't help but like him, as well as respect him.
To be perfectly honest, he was a bit jealous concerning that particular factoid. If Pike was the good guy at "The Farm" who took the time to talk to potential agents whenever they need it then he was the quintessential bad guy. He's the kind of guy who got on everybody's case whether they did bad or good, which he played the role quite nicely because quite frankly being the bad guy is fun he thinks to himself.
When it came to Riker and Sisko, he knows that they are two top notch guys with service records to prove it. They were possibly coherst into joining his team by absolutely loyalty to Pike and what he stood for. Archer was right about one thing and that Pike was indeed a better man than him. When people like him chose the greater good in order save the country over having a personal life he chose both and was able to juggle both.
Graham finally admits to himself Pike wasn't just a colleague he was a friend…his best friend to be exact. After years of denying it, he finally accepts it to where he glances up at the heavens giving a quick nod and silently saying I'm sorry. "As the Director of the C.I.A., I clear you two of any wrong doing." states Graham.
"Thanks you sir."
Sarah watches as Riker and Sisko reach out for a handshake. She witnesses a bit of hesitation on Graham's part but he reaches out to shake their hands. As he is about to shake Riker's hand, shots are fired to where Sarah and Graham see Riker and Sisko fall forward. The reason is both me have been shot in the chest. The mentor and his student simultaneously turn aiming their weapons to find Archer pointing his gun at the both of them.
"Drop your gun Archer." Graham screamed. "You can't win. As you can clearly see you're outnumbered." he added.
"Are you sure about that?" responded Archer as a smirk appears on his face.
As he says that, Sarah is hit hard in the back of the head from behind by butt of Khan's gun. Graham reacts but not in time as he is kicked in the left leg that has been shot causing him to scream out in pain to where he fall to the ground next to a disoriented Sarah. He sees Khan immediately kick her in the face knocking Sarah completely out. Graham winces in pain as he watches Khan step forward and then turn around in order to stand next to Archer with her weapon still pointed at Graham.
"We're going to take a little ride Graham." he said hovering he and Sarah. "I going to put an end to you and your best agent here once and for all." he added with a menacing tone.
XXX
NOTE: The 2 hour season finale was mind blowing as everybody with the exception of the entire Buy More staff knows Chuck secret. Can't wait for season 4 with Mama B and new enemies to deal. Please leave a comment.