Thanks for all the reviews so far. And all of you who have been enjoying reading this story. I'm surprised no one caught my Star Wars reference when Orion told Graham he was the only hope. I only have one thing to say: Writer's block is a bitch!
I do not own Chuck.
November 28, 2004
Sarah looks down the sight of her Smith and Wesson Model 5906 pistol as her left hand gently opens the 'roof access' door. She knows what her mission is: to save Chuck's sister, even if Graham's number one priority is to capture Roark. Bryce and Chuck follow on her heels as she enters the stairwell cautiously. She glances down over the railing to see all fifteen floors down to the ground level. She doesn't see anyone in the stairwell and she looks up in the corner but there is no camera. "We're clear," she whispers as they start heading down.
They quickly step down the stairs while making sure there aren't any security cameras throughout. They arrive to the third floor and Sarah stops them at the door. She peeks through the small window to the empty hallway that looks like it has small cells along the left side while the right side is absent of doors except for a single turn halfway through. "Keep moving," she whispers as she gets the door open and they step into the empty hallway. "Check each room," she commands Chuck and Bryce. "I'll watch our backs."
Chuck and Bryce peek into each room looking for Ellie, but every room has come up empty. "She's not here," Chuck hisses angrily in a whisper. "Where is she?" Chuck demands worriedly as his tone wavers with emotion.
"We'll find her Chuck," Sarah assures as they get to the end of the hallway.
"Chuck," Bryce cuts in calmly, "this door has the same keypad as the one in the warehouse."
"Let me see," Chuck glares at it and he is hit with a flash. He sees the exact order for the door and quickly presses the buttons in correct synchronization. The door opens and the three spies step inside a deeper room.
"Thank god for the Intersect," Bryce whispers with a small grin towards Chuck. He wouldn't dare try to tease Chuck during such a grave situation. Ellie has treated him like a brother and he would like nothing more than to save her. He's never really had much of a family and his parents weren't around too much when he was growing up, working as a talent agent and a hair stylist. They loved their jobs, but he felt like they neglected him a little too much, so when he got the scholarship to Stanford, he was on the first bus out of Connecticut and into California. He was always a very likable person, but when he and Chuck became friends, it was something different. From the story of their parents leaving them to fend for themselves at such a young age to the care and sincerity they showed him, it was quite surprising and amazing at the same time.
As they look through the room, they realize how large it is. It is about the size of a football field. Chuck furrows his brow as he doesn't see how anyone could want a room this large, nor with the ugly plain white paint job across the tiled walls. "This wasn't in the blueprints," Sarah muses as she looks around in wonderment.
As realization hits Chuck, his eyes widen beyond belief. "This is an Intersect room!" He almost shouts, but keeps it in a loud whisper. "Roark has the room already built and ready. He just needs my father to build him the Intersect."
"This is not good," Bryce muses as he looks down the large room and starts walking deeper into the center.
"What are you doing?" Chuck whispers in curiosity as Bryce strays from their pack.
"We need to destroy it," Bryce pulls out his stick of C4. "You think this will be sufficient?" He flashes the brick to his two partners.
"Maybe," Sarah pulls hers out. "Here," she tosses it to him. "Just in case."
Bryce catches it and rigs the two sticks on each side of the room for a maximum explosion radius. He sets the charges to remotely detonate with the triggers stuffed deep into the plastic material. He pockets both detonators and rejoins the team. "Now let's find Ellie, arrest that prick, Roark, and get the hell out of here."
They find another door on the opposite side of where they came in and follow it into a hallway with barren cement walls that look thick enough to survive a nuclear blast. They continue until they find a fork where there is a stairwell down or they can continue forward. "Which way?" Chuck asks unsurely.
"Ellie is most likely down," Sarah responds as dungeons tend to be underground. The thought of what they may be doing to Ellie in the dungeon sickens Sarah deeply.
"Then we go down," Chuck states determinedly as he takes the lead; Bryce and Sarah on his heels.
Bryce and Sarah aren't ready to argue with Chuck's determination, so they follow him down the stairs. They take the stairs one floor down and they reach an intersection. Chuck presses his back to the wall and peeks out down the hallway. He sees two guards standing in front of a door. He hides back against the wall and looks at his two partners. He puts up two fingers to inform them the number of enemies. "I got them," he whispers as he is the only one with a silent weapon. They both nod and Chuck aims the tranquilizer pistol around the corner. He carefully aims on the two unaware guards and fires two shots each into their necks.
After the four silent puffs of air, the two guards crumble to the floor in a deep slumber. "Let's go," Chuck whispers as they close the gap to the enemies and kick away the weapons just in case. Chuck looks the door up and down and notices that it is a steel door that looks like it is meant to hold something inside… or someone. Chuck eyes the handprint scanner next to the door and grabs one of the guard's limp hands. He presses the hand to the scanner and the door beeps contently. Chuck drops the hand as the door slides open.
Chuck immediately recognizes the brown-eyed brunette strapped down to the chair. Their eyes lock and Chuck sighs, "Ellie!" He sprints up to her and pulls her into the tightest hug he can. Ellie is relieved to see someone she knows, but has no idea what Chuck is doing. Chuck is just an accountant, but in his outfit, he looks like a stealthy soldier… a spy. Chuck finally releases her and starts undoing her binds, starting with the cloth in her mouth.
Sarah and Bryce calmly walk in the room, relieved that Ellie is unharmed. Sarah watches the reunion in fascination while Bryce drags the guards sleeping bodies into the room to hide them.
"Chuck?" Ellie gasps in shock. "What are you doing here? Bryce? Sarah?"
"Shh…" Chuck hushes her gently as he undoes the last of her binds. "We're here to save you."
"But you?" Ellie asks confusedly. She believes he is just an accountant, but he is here saving her from captivity. "You're not an accountant, are you?"
"No, Ellie," Chuck states seriously, "we're spies." He grins welcomingly as her eyes widen slowly with recognition.
"What?" tumbles out of her mouth in complete surprise.
"We work for the government," Chuck informs his sister as he helps her stand up. "Are you hurt at all?"
"Um… no," Ellie responds as her mind is still trying to process the whole 'we're spies' bomb.
"Alright," Chuck puts a hand on each of her shoulders so she has to look him square in the eyes, "El, Sarah is going to lead you out of here. Bryce and I will be right behind you."
"What?" Sarah barges in. "Why me?"
Chuck turns to Sarah and gazes into her expectant blue eyes. "Because I trust you with my family," Chuck states with pure conviction. "Please," Chuck pleads calmly before he looks back into Ellie's confused eyes. "I know you have a lot of questions… and I'll answer everything once we're safe. I promise."
"Okay," Ellie nods as she accepts Chuck's honest words.
"We don't have all day," Bryce informs them as he constantly peeks out into the hallway.
"Let's get out of here," Chuck states as he takes lead with Sarah behind him, then Ellie, and finally Bryce to guard their backs.
They head back the way they came, up the concrete stairwell, through the Intersect room, and to the stairwell. Fortunately, there weren't any enemies. Chuck stops them in the stairwell. He turns to Sarah and pulls her close to him as he places a hand on each of her shoulders. "Sarah," Chuck gazes into her blue eyes, "get Ellie out of here. I have complete faith in you and I know you won't let me down. Bryce and I will be right behind you," he pulls her into a tight embrace. She relaxes into him as it will be the last time she feels tranquil and calm until the end of the mission. "Can you do that for me? Can you get Ellie out?" He steps back so they can look into each other's eyes but remain joined at the waist.
"Yes," Sarah nods determinedly. She would do anything for Chuck and anything for his family.
"Thank you, Sarah," Chuck states with utter gratitude. He turns to Ellie, who is still shell-shocked by the whole ordeal. "Ellie, Sarah is going to get you out of here," he informs her with a small smile.
"What about you?" Ellie asks worriedly.
"Bryce and I are going to stop Roark once and for all," Chuck responds confidently.
Ellie glances over at Bryce and sees the determined grin on his face and then back to Chuck. "Okay, Chuck, but I want answers when we get out."
"Okay," Chuck nods as he pulls her into a hug. "I love you, Ellie. I'm sorry you got in this mess."
"I love you too, Chuck," she grins subtly at him.
"We need to go," Sarah informs the siblings.
"Okay," Chuck hands Ellie over to Sarah.
Just before splitting up, Ellie pulls Bryce into a hug. "Don't you dare let my brother get hurt, you hear me?" She demands as she holds him tightly.
"I'll do my best," Bryce responds as he never knew Ellie could hug so gently. It is still tight, but not a vice grip like he's used to.
"Let's go," Sarah leads Ellie out of the room. "I'll see you guys at the extraction point," Sarah grins at Bryce and then Chuck.
"See you there," Bryce responds casually while Chuck nods determinedly.
Sarah leads Ellie down the stairs while Bryce and Chuck head up the stairs.
"Okay," Chuck states as they continue up the stairs, "Roark's office is on the fourteenth floor. We'll check there first."
"If we get that far," Bryce states in a strained voice as he hears the stairwell door open a couple floors above them. They both hug the wall farthest from the center of the stairwell as they fall deathly silent. They listen for the footsteps as they count out about two or three people and the footsteps are getting louder, so they must be descending onto Chuck and Bryce's position. Chuck and Bryce both ready their guns as they aim at the top of the flight of stairs. Chuck sees Bryce's gun from the corner of his eye and glances at him.
"It could be civilians," Chuck whispers tersely.
"What do you want me to do?" Bryce whispers a bit agitatedly.
"I'll take them out," Chuck answers. "Only shoot if you have to."
"Fine," Bryce aims his gun at the top of the flight of stairs with Chuck. The footsteps get louder and louder until Chuck sees the start of black shoes with black pants. As he sees the first person turn towards them, he sees the gun on his hip. "Shoot!" Bryce commands as Chuck fires two darts into the man. Bryce fires his Five seveN handgun twice. Two large bangs persist through the air of the stairwell and two red blossoms appear on the next enemy's chest. The last enemy stops and crouches as he tries to pull his pistol out of its holster, but Chuck fires a true shot that sticks into his neck; he quickly stumbles to the ground before falling asleep.
"Oh my god!" Ellie jumps from the echo of the two loud bangs.
"Don't worry," Sarah assures with a comforting grin, "that was Bryce's gun. They're fine."
"It was?" Ellie asks shakily.
"Yep," Sarah perks up, "I can tell by the sound. They're just doing their job. We need to keep moving."
"Okay," Ellie unsurely responds as they get to the first floor. Sarah peeks out through the tiny window in the door and sees the large lobby. The elevators are to the left, the security desk is in the center with two guards, and the entrance is to the right, but there is a guard patrolling the front too.
Chuck gets to the fourteenth floor and peeks through the window while Bryce waits patiently for Chuck's 'all clear.' Chuck doesn't see any enemies so he opens the door with his tranq pistol aimed ahead of him. The floor looks like a normal office building with cubicles on both sides. Since it is nearly midnight, there aren't any occupants so they crouch below the cubicle walls as they maneuver the floor.
Sarah studies her situation intently. The stairwell exit is too far forward for her to sneak out because the two security guards at the desk have a peripheral sight on the door. She could step out and kill both of them and run, but she doesn't want to alert the entire building in fear of getting Chuck and Bryce caught or taking her chances of three on one. "What are you doing?" Ellie wishes worriedly.
"Finding a way out," Sarah responds as she hears a door open into the stairwell. "Shh…" Sarah shushes Ellie and presses her finger to her mouth to get Ellie to quiet down. Sarah peeks up the top of the spiral, but cannot tell which floor it came from. She waits patiently with her gun aimed at the stairwell as she hears faint footsteps. The footsteps get quieter, so Sarah deducts they must be heading up. A few seconds later, she hears a faint crackle of a radio.
"We have intruders," Sarah hears faintly from a male voice. "Lock the building down!"
"Shit," Sarah hisses as she looks into the fearful eyes of Ellie. Sarah looks back out the small window in the door to see the two security guards at the desk look absorbedly at the monitors in front of them while the guard outside is locking the large glass doors to the building. Sarah watches as one of the guards at the booth pulls a radio to his mouth.
"Intruders on level fourteen," Sarah hears the guard in the stairwell's radio chirp distantly.
"Chuck, Bryce," Sarah whispers hastily into her microphone, "you've been made. Get a move on."
"Roger that," Chuck responds as he glances back at the stairwell door. The door flies open to reveal an enemy and he quickly fires a pair of tranq darts. "We need to move," Chuck declares boldly as he and Bryce start sprinting through the hallway.
"They're taking the elevators," Sarah informs her two partners through the earpiece as she watches an army of eight men in all black G-men suits with their hands on their holstered Glock handguns sprinting towards the elevator.
"Roger that," Chuck responds as he and Bryce sprint through the hallway. At the corner of Chuck's eye, he sees the elevator room where there are two large elevators. He stops suddenly and turns into the room.
"What're you doing?" Bryce demands hastily.
"Disabling the elevators," Chuck responds nonchalantly as he pulls his tactical knife from its sheath. He slides the knife in the thin gap behind the button panel and wrenches the panel off. A screeching noise seeps out of the metal as it bends unnaturally and the screws retreat from inside the wall. Chuck looks at the wires flowing from inside the hole the panel once covered. "Sarah, tell me when they get in the elevator, "Chuck directs into his watch. He then turns to Bryce and states, "watch my back."
"Fine," Bryce huffs as he cautiously peeks his head out of the elevator room and into the hallway.
Sarah watches through the window as she sees the eight men enter the left elevator. After the doors close, Sarah quickly informs Chuck, "They're in the left elevator!"
"Thanks, Sarah," Chuck responds as he grins victoriously. "And now you're all going to be stuck," he murmurs haughtily as he slices the wires, causing both elevators to stop instantly. The enemies are now all stuck in the elevator car between the first and second floor.
"Chuck," Bryce whispers hurriedly, "we have company. Hurry up."
"I'm good," Chuck pockets his knife and readies his tranq pistol. He gets right behind Bryce ready for their next move.
Bryce watches inconspicuously with his right eye around the corner. "There's three of them," he whispers to Chuck. "Twelve, two, and ten."
"How do you want to do this?" Chuck asks.
"Which one do you want?"
"You know me," Chuck states humorously, "Mr. Indecisive."
"I got ten and twelve. You get two," Bryce responds; a thin grin forming on his face.
"Okay," Chuck whispers as he grips his pistol. He places his left hand on Bryce's shoulder to inform him that he's ready.
Bryce lifts his left hand up with three fingers extended. Chuck perches himself on his toes as he readies himself. Bryce drops a finger, leaving two left. Chuck tightens his grip on his pistol as he uses his left hand for extra stability. Bryce drops the next finger, leaving only one. Chuck breathes in deeply to cleanse himself. Bryce drops the last finger and he clenches his fist. He quickly pulls his left hand around the clip of his Five seveN and steps out into the hallway; Chuck right on his heels. They take only a couple steps until they are back in the open room with cubicles on both sides of them.
Bryce fires two quick shots at the enemy at twelve o'clock. Bryce's gun roars with violence as both bullets shred the enemy's chest. Bryce quickly ducks as Chuck stands tall behind him and fires two darts into the enemy at ten o'clock. Chuck's gun whistles with accuracy as the two darts stick into the enemy's forehead and left cheek. Bryce quickly fires two more shots in succession after turning towards the two o'clock enemy who is just raising his gun to fire. Two loud bangs erupt as the lead slices through the air and into the enemy's forehead and neck.
A loud bang from the left side, nine o'clock to be exact, causes Bryce to jump and turn towards the sound. Chuck feels a scalding pain hammer his upper left arm and he loses his balance while turning to the source of the bang. He sees an enemy standing with his gun aimed directly at Chuck. Chuck, as a last ditch effort, swings his right arm around and fires erratically at the enemy. The enemy fires another shot that tears into Chuck's right chest, causing Chuck to squeeze the trigger of his tranq pistol. Chuck gets off three darts as he falls to the ground in unbearable pain. Bryce sees the enemy slump to the ground after being hit by a dart to the face and to the neck.
Bryce looks behind him to see Chuck laying on the ground. "Chuck!" Bryce shouts tersely as he kneels over Chuck.
"Wow, that hurts," Chuck groans painfully as he holds his upper right chest with his left hand and his right hand crossed over to his left arm.
Bryce fights the anger that builds inside him and steps up to the man who shot Chuck. Bryce lets out a ferociously guttural scream as he fires bullet after bullet into the enemy's head. Bryce keeps squeezing the trigger until his gun starts clicking from the absence of bullets. "Dammit!" Bryce looks down at the bloody crater formed into the hollow carcass of the enemy's head. Bryce turns to Chuck, who was able to drag himself to a wall to sit against. Blood trickles out of Chuck's mouth and he spits it out to his left side. "Chuck," Bryce's voice wavers with emotion. It is probably the first time Chuck has ever heard Bryce's voice so raw and vulnerable. Bryce doesn't want to believe it. He can't believe it, and sure as hell doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that blood is starting to gush through the cracks in Chuck's left hand covering his chest wound.
"You do care about me," Chuck jokes as if it is the biggest surprise in the world. He tries to grin playfully, but it comes off as pained.
"Shut up," Bryce grins wryly through his damp eyes. "Now let's go, soldier. Get on your feet." Bryce tries to lift Chuck up by his right hand, but Chuck grunts loudly in pain and falls back down to the ground. "Come on, Chuck," Bryce cries out as he looks at his now bloody hand.
"Yea… I don't think I'm going to make it," Chuck responds hoarsely as he finds solace in his restful spot on the floor.
"You have to!" Bryce demands angrily. "You can't just give up! Not now!" Bryce's eyes actually start to tear up.
"What the hell is going on?" Sarah demands as she overhears their conversation on her earpiece.
Chuck digs into his pocket on his leg and pulls out the brick of C4 he has. His blood smears across the C4 as he tries to hand it to Bryce. "Take it," Chuck groans as he extends his outreached hand. "Blow Roark's database to shit."
Bryce hesitantly takes the C4 and pockets it. "I will," Bryce responds with a grim smile as he squeezes Chuck's bloody hand tightly.
"Take care of her for me," Chuck states tearfully as he reciprocates the mutual feeling by squeezing Bryce's hand. "Take care of Sarah for me."
"She loves you, buddy," Bryce states in reverence as he fights the tears from flowing. "She always has. I'm such an idiot. I'm so sorry for everything."
"It's okay," Chuck flashes a grimacing smile. "Just make sure you protect her. And make sure Ellie knows I love her."
"I will," Bryce states determinedly.
"Go," Chuck demands tersely. "Stop Roark once and for all."
Bryce grabs Chuck by the back of his head and presses his forehead to Chuck's. "I'm gonna miss you, buddy," Bryce sobs solemnly.
"I'll miss you, too," Chuck responds. "Now, go! You don't have all day!"
"Don't panic, Chuck," Bryce pulls out his reserve pistol, an H&K USP .45, and hands it to Chuck. "Take as many of those bastards out as you can."
Chuck grips the pistol almost worshipfully as he grips his right hand around it tightly as if it is foreign in his hand, but something that was once familiar. Chuck looks back up at Bryce. "Now get moving!" Bryce reluctantly leaves Chuck and heads for Roark's office and database; leaving Chuck to fend for himself.
A guard rushes in from the stairwell and Chuck raises his gun. He feels a flare of anger flow through him for what these people have done. They've taken him away from Sarah. They've taken him away from the ones he loves. He finds it almost tranquilly easy to fire the USP handgun as he aims it lazily at the enemy. He fires two cathartic shots that both hit their mark. The lone enemy is cut down immediately and falls to the floor.
"Chuck!" Sarah demands harshly. "What the hell is going on? Talk to me!" She has only heard tidbits of their conversation but it sounded gloomy and she heard Chuck tell Bryce to say he loves someone.
"Sarah," Chuck groans as he spits out some more blood, "I'm sorry."
"What are you talking about, Chuck?" Sarah fretfully asks over the radio. "Sorry for what?"
"I wish things could've been different," Chuck explains solemnly as he sees two enemies step onto his floor from the stairwell. He fires six erratic shots at the enemies and they both crumble to the ground. You bastards took me from them, Chuck screams in his mind. I'll never get to see Ellie get married because of you bastards. I'll never get to be with Sarah, the woman I love.
"Chuck, you're scaring me," Sarah worriedly deadpans.
"Sarah, I'm not going to make it," Chuck sighs despondently. The biggest letdown is that he will no longer be there for Sarah; to protect her, to cherish her, to comfort her.
"No," Sarah demands as she feels tears stinging her ever increasing moistening eyes.
"I didn't want it to end this way, Sarah," Chuck explains regretfully. "I'm so sorry."
"Where are you, Chuck?" Sarah demands tearfully. "I'm coming to save you!"
"No!" Chuck nearly shouts, but it comes out raucously. "You need to get Ellie out of here. Sarah, please," Chuck begs with a soft, emotional tone, "I'm trusting you with my family."
"No, Chuck," Sarah sobs in anger and sadness.
"You promised me you'd save her," Chuck pleads. "You made a promise to me."
"Dammit, Chuck!" Sarah cries out crossly. "Please…" Sarah grovels downheartedly.
"It's okay, Sarah," Chuck states in a tone that describes that he's come to terms with his unfortunate demise. "I've waited a long time to say this. Maybe too long," Chuck lets out a tiny chuckle that comes off as pained. "But Sarah, I love you. I know it's too late now, but you're the greatest thing to happen to me and I just want you to know that you're amazing. And there's a silver lining to all this…" Chuck tries to keep it airy. "Now you won't have to ask for reassignment."
"Chuck," Sarah snivels in a mess of tears.
Chuck tries to respond but his vision quickly darkens from the loss of blood and he finds the gun in his hand too heavy to carry. He tries to keep his eyes open but his eyelids weigh down with exhaustion and he lets them close. He falls into a hallucinogenic dream state.
There are people with content smiles gathered on the benches behind me. I am wearing a formal tuxedo and am standing in the front of a line of men. Not more than five feet away, there is a line of women and Sarah is standing there smiling at me. I smile back unconsciously. She is just so beautiful. She is wearing a gorgeous teal gown that cuts off just above the knees. The other women are wearing the same thing. I look to my left and see Ellie and Devon holding hands. That is very sweet, but they are standing there for a reason. Ellie is in a gorgeous white flowing gown. She has a white veil pulled back to reveal her face. There are tears in her eyes, but they are tears of joy. She is smiling brightly while she stares into Devon's eyes. Devon is in an exquisite black tuxedo.
I finally realize that I'm at my own fictitious imagination of Ellie and Devon's wedding. Everyone seems so happy and I've never felt happier in my life. I watch as Ellie and Devon finally kiss as a married couple. Everyone cheers loudly at the joyous kiss between the newly married couple. I'm ecstatic to see Ellie so happy and joyful. She has done so much for me in my life and she deserves this happiness. I can feel tears of joy forming in my eyes. I never saw myself as a crying sap at weddings but I'm just so happy for Ellie. Oh god, here comes the tears. As I shed my first tear, a finger catches it on my cheek and I look over to see Sarah cupping my cheek as she glides her thumb just under my eye. Wow, she is so beautiful. Her hair is wavy and long; ending past the back of her shoulders. She has a huge smile on her face and gives me a gentle kiss on the lips. As her lips press against mine, I feel the electricity flow through me. Her soft luscious lips press into mine in a slow loving kiss. "Congratulations, Chuck," Sarah smiles brightly at me.
"Thank you, Sarah," I reply excitedly. "You look gorgeous, by the way. But you always look gorgeous, but in that dress, you look like… wow! You look gorgeous…" Apparently I ramble even in my mind.
Sarah giggles as she pulls herself into my arms. She plants a quick kiss on my lips; again electricity flows through me and reignites my body with passion and love. "You're so adorable when you ramble," she happily states with the brightest smile I've ever seen. "I love you, Chuck," she declares humbly with all her love and emotion.
Chuck quickly falls into unconsciousness and his gun slips out of his grip and clatters to the ground.
"Chuck?" Sarah demands, but gets no response. "Chuck! CHUCK!" Sarah begs with all her emotion, but gets no response. She decides to switch tactics before Ellie can ask what is going on. "Bryce!" Sarah demands almost hostilely. "Save Chuck!"
"I have to stop Roark," Bryce replies breathily as he sprints through the building.
"No, you need to save Chuck, "Sarah argues with her blackening heart filling with depression.
"The mission is more important," Bryce disputes as he hurries towards Roark's office.
"No it's not!" Sarah screams tearfully. "Bryce, he's your best friend!"
"I'm sorry, Sarah," Bryce replies honestly as sorrow seeps into his tone. "There isn't enough time."
"Dammit! Yes there is!" Sarah contends lividly. She is losing the man who loves her… the man she loves.
"Sarah," Bryce states humbly, "There's nothing I can do now."
"No!" Sarah cries out. "Do something!" She is quickly losing her coherency at losing the man who's so close to her heart. "No," Sarah stutters in a sob.
"Sarah, what's happening?" Ellie finally gets a word in while seeing the blonde crumble before her. "Where's Chuck?"
"He's gone," Sarah whispers mournfully as she lets her back press against the wall and she slides to the ground.
"What?" Ellie gasps in shock. "What do you mean 'he's gone'?"
"He's dead!" Sarah shouts angrily before dropping her head shamefully. "He's gone," she weeps to herself. "Chuck's gone."
Ellie drops to her knees numbly. Her loving brother, who has been there for her for over twenty years, is gone. Her cute little brother with the nerdy curls and giant heart is gone forever. Ellie crawls over to Sarah and pulls her into a hug. Sarah lets herself get engulfed by Ellie's motherly arms as they both cry together because of the mutual loss. "I'm so sorry," Ellie whispers as she holds Sarah tightly.
Sarah's mind finally starts processing everything and the situation they are in. They are still in the stairwell of the enemy's base and Sarah has one last task to accomplish. She promised Chuck to get his sister out safely and Sarah refuses to fall back on her pronise. She owes it to Chuck. Sarah opens her eyes and looks at Ellie with an unnervingly serious determination. "We're getting out of here."
Sarah stands up and looks through the window in the stairwell door to see that the two guards watching the monitors are now gone and the only one left is waiting by the door. Sarah wipes the salty streams along her cheeks and grips her Model 5906 firearm. She watches the guard intensely until the guard turns away from the stairwell door. Sarah gently eases the door open quietly and slips out into the lobby. She aims meticulously at the enemy's head as she blames him for the loss of Chuck and fires a single bullet. As her hand cannon explodes with animosity, the single golden bullet flies true through the air. The bullet slices into the enemy's left temple like a hot knife through butter as the bullet soars through the enemy's skull and out the right parietal bone and into the glass door behind the enemy. Blood splatters radially onto the glass to create almost a Rorschach-like test before it starts to drip down the translucent glass. The body finally collapses to the ground with a thud and Sarah turns back to the stairwell door and motions for Ellie, who is looking through the small window with shock, to follow. Ellie dazedly steps into the lobby as her eyes stay transfixed on the dead body.
"We're getting out of here," Sarah states brazenly as she fires three bullets into the glass door and it shatters into a million little pieces along the ground. Sarah leads Ellie through and out into the cold dark night.
Bryce finally finds Roark's office and begs to whatever god may be listening that Roark is in there. It is the least they deserve for Chuck sacrificing his life on this mission. Bryce sees the keypad by the door and it is one of those pattern ones that Chuck has flashed on earlier when getting into the Intersect room and at Roark's warehouse. It reminds Bryce of Chuck's amazing abilities and how he has lost his best friend and Bryce pushes the thoughts away as he squints his eyes tightly. He doesn't know the code to the door so he shoots the keypad twice. The door unlocks with a resounding click and Bryce lets out a very tiny smirk. "Who needs the Intersect?" He mumbles to himself victoriously.
He kicks the door open to reveal Roark's homey office with a cedar desk and Hawaiian wallpaper, but it is vacant of human life. Roark isn't here, so Bryce huffs agitatedly. The gods aren't smiling on me today, he acknowledges glumly as he already lost his best friend. He quickly scans the room for a possible hidden compartment that houses the servers. He sees the humongous painting the length of nine feet and a width of four feet of whom else, but Roark himself. Chauvinistic narcissistic bastard, Bryce remarks as he feels behind the painting until his fingertips glide over a tiny button. He presses it and the painting pops off. Bryce opens it to reveal the numerous black blade computers that make up the servers. There are cables running from on top of it and below it.
Bryce pulls out the C4 and notices the dried blood caked on it. Chuck's blood, Bryce reminds himself miserably. He molds the C4 to the servers and charges the detonator. He tunes the frequency to match the other charges set in the Intersect room so he can blow all three with a single detonator. "The charges are set," Bryce informs Sarah. "I'm on my way out." He doesn't get a response as he hurries out of the room and back the way he came. The least I can do is recover Chuck's body for the funeral, Bryce thinks sadly as he sprints past the elevators and to the room Chuck died in. Bryce looks over to the area Chuck was last and he is gone. There aren't any blood tracks or trails. Bryce furrows his brow in confusion, but doesn't have the time. I'm so sorry, Chuck, he declares in his mind as he rushes to the stairwell.
The stairwell is fairly empty other than the dead body and the two tranqed ones by Chuck. Bryce stops and fires a single bullet into each of the sleeping enemies' heads. "That's for Chuck," he murmurs poignantly before jumping down each flight of stairs as fast as he can.
"The front entrance should be open," Sarah finally speaks and Bryce can tell Sarah's voice is ragged and faint.
"Roger that," Bryce responds as he gets to the first floor. He bursts into the lobby from the stairwell door to see the blood splatter along the glass and the body on the ground. He quickly leaps through the open doorframe as he runs atop the shattered glass. He hurries to the extraction point behind some bushes one hundred feet from the building. As Bryce turns the corner, he sees Sarah forlornly sitting with her forearms despairingly resting on her raised knees and Ellie standing with her head down hopelessly. Both of them look numb and traumatized. Sarah glances up at him but drops her head back down at not seeing Chuck. Ellie looks at Bryce and sees that Chuck isn't with him.
"Where is he?" Ellie demands heatedly as she doesn't want to believe her brother is dead. "Where's Chuck?"
"He's gone," Bryce replies solemnly.
"No he's not!" Ellie screams in denial of losing her brother and only family she knows of. "Get back in there and save my brother!"
"Ellie," Bryce grabs her by the shoulders, "He's gone. Chuck is no longer with us."
"No he's not," Ellie sobs messily. "He can't be. He's my brother."
"I'm sorry," Bryce pulls Ellie into a hug. She limply rests her head against his shoulder as he holds her tightly. "He's in a better place now," he humbly comforts the heartbroken sister. He pulls the detonator from his pocket and insures he has a tight hold on the brunette before pressing the button to remote detonate the C4. Three loud booms blend together as the C4 explodes.
"No!" Ellie screams as she watches the building light up into a bright inferno. "Chuck," she shudders as she watches the flames engulf the majority of the building. "No," Ellie drops her head back onto Bryce's shoulder as she the tears pour out of her eyes.
Sarah glances up at Ellie crying her eyes out onto Bryce's shoulder. She feels the same way. She wants to cry her eyes out. She doesn't want to believe Chuck is dead. But she knows better. She knows Chuck is gone and she needs to stay strong. She cannot let her emotions take over her. "We need to update Graham," Sarah states in a monotone voice as she buries her emotions as deep as she can because it only causes her pain and heartache.
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