A/N: I am now told that ownership of Chuck is in the mail. But with our current postal system, who knows?
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Bennett tried to get comfortable, but it wasn't easy. Even with the air mattress under his sleeping bag, he still found it hard to sleep. At 61 years old, he decided he wasn't cut out for camping every night for a couple of weeks. He needed a bed.
Now it looked like he'd be camping for a bit longer than that. His team had failed in its mission last night. Fulcrum had sent them to retrieve the Image Harvester from Los Alamos. His old friend, John Casey and Casey's team had intervened and stopped them. Somehow, they had known of the target beforehand. He didn't know how they knew, but in retrospect he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.
Bennett's team had been composed of former students of his, men he had guided into Fulcrum. He had met the rest of his team yesterday afternoon and told them that Casey had a team in Santa Fe and that they had spotted him. It was only then that he learned about Casey's current circumstances. He was informed that Casey was part of the Carmicheal team, a team that had been a thorn in Fulcrum's side for months and whose status was rapidly approaching legend. He learned that the latest attack they had launched against Fulcrum had taken a Fulcrum scientist out of play and destroyed all his Intersect research. Months' worth of work gone. Fulcrum's leader was furious.
And then last night they had interfered again and stopped his own team from stealing the Image Harvester. He had underestimated them. Somehow, they had learned of the raid of the Los Alamos labs and knew that it was scheduled for last night (which was amazing, given that they had moved the date of the raid up in response to the Carmicheal team's presence). It was only luck that they had spotted him in Santa Fe and recognized him. He had thought about it a great deal and concluded that spotting him was just bad luck for him. Otherwise, how was it that they were in exactly the right place at the right time in the Los Alamos lab, waiting for him? There were no analysts anywhere clever enough to see him on the street and immediately stake out the Intersect room at Los Alamos the very night they were prepared to attack it. It was just not possible. He was slightly gratified that he hadn't been responsible for leading the Carmicheal team to Santa Fe. Whatever mistakes had been made, had been made by others.
And then watching them dismantle his team. Bennett was shocked. They had taken out one of the women right away, leaving the others outnumbered two-to-one. It should have been the easiest thing in the world to defeat them. But they had fought together as if reading each other's minds. It was a level of partnership he had never seen before and it startled him. Enough that he didn't want to chance a contest with them himself until he'd had the ability to think and analyze what they had done. Better that he get out before being captured. At least that left him active to plan another strike on Los Alamos to get the Image Harvester that leadership so desperately wanted.
Through the tent flaps, he could see a sliver of light as dawn arrived. He wasn't looking forward to the freezing temperatures outside, but his bladder didn't particularly care. He pulled on his boots and stepped outside the tent. Walking a few paces away from the tent and the stream that flowed nearby, he unzipped and began to take care of his morning business. As he did so, something that had been niggling at his subconscious tugged harder. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
He twisted his head around to look at his campsite. Standing against a tree, in full view, was John Casey. His right arm was in a sling and his weapon was in his left hand. He was as still as a statue. Bennett had walked right past him without seeing him at all. It seems that John had finally mastered the ninja skill of invisibility. The ability to empty your mind to such an extent that the observer's mind didn't register a person even while the eyes saw one in full view. It was said that the ninja masters of old could pass invisibly through a crowd.
Bennett said, "Morning, John."
"Morning, Ty."
"Mind if I finish?"
"I insist," said Casey.
Bennett finished and zipped up. Turning around he said, "You've gotten better over the years. You wouldn't have been able to do that ninja-trick even five years ago." Casey just shrugged in response. "You made it here silently. I'm impressed."
"You've got a bum ear, remember? And anyway, you're a city kid, Ty. You aren't used to the sounds of the woods. A platoon could have come up here and you wouldn't have heard."
"How did you find me?" Bennett asked.
"Los Alamos. We had a man outside..."
"Carmicheal."
"Yeah. He found your transport and put trackers on them, just in case."
Bennett nodded. "Smart."
"You have no idea," said Casey, shaking his head with a small smile.
"Your arm?" Bennett gestured to the sling.
"One of your men last night. It will heal eventually, they tell me," said Casey. "I did better than he did."
"Where's the rest of your team?"
"I came up here alone. Figured we had some stuff to get through, you and I."
"What? You're going to try to convince me to betray Fulcrum? You know that won't happen."
"Why not, Ty? You already betrayed the NSA. Why not betray again?"
Ty flared with sudden anger. "I was betrayed first. The government is supposed to protect its people. You saw what happened. Thousands died. There's no way around it, John. We have to change. We have to adapt. We can't be bound by the same old rules in a changing world, John. That's the way to death and defeat."
"No, Ty. You're wrong. The country will survive, but we can't abandon what makes us special. This is the only country in the world based on an idea. On ideals. No other country can say that, Ty. None. What you Fulcrum assholes want to do will destroy that. I can't let that happen. Sorry." Casey's voice was tight, as if he wanted to raise it and was struggling not to.
"You can't have ideals when in the foxhole with the bullets flying."
Casey shook his head sadly. "You're so wrong, Ty. That's exactly the time when you need them the most. It's the time to tell if you ever believed in them or were just parroting the words because it was easy."
"Then you and I are at a stalemate, old friend. I can't let you bring me in."
"You're going to make me shoot you?"
"If you have to, do it," said Bennett.
"I don't think so." Casey put his weapon away with his left hand and took out a pair of handcuffs. Throwing them to the ground at Bennett's feet, he said, "Put these on."
Bennett bent to pick up the cuffs, then, without warning, leapt forward, the cuffs held in his right hand like brass-knuckles and swung at Casey. With his left hand, Casey blocked the punch and pulled Bennett forward to plant a solid knee into the older man's ribcage.
Bennett grunted from the impact but kept moving like a tank. With his one hand, Casey forced Bennett to drop the cuffs, but it came at the expense of a solid punch to the face.
Casey staggered back and squared off against Bennett, his left side forward, protecting his damaged right arm in the sling. Bennett moved in smoothly, throwing a roundhouse kick that Casey managed to dodge, followed with a fast backfist strike. Casey rolled with the backfist as he backed away, but it was still a brutal hit, even as a glancing blow.
Bennett moved in, his head low. He began to pummel Casey with blows, emphasizing attacks with his left, taking advantage of Casey's immobilized right arm. Casey did his best to block the blows, but being one handed it was almost impossible to cover them all. Those that got through were rocking him backward. Shortly, he was bleeding from his nose and a split lip.
Casey managed to put some distance between them and shook his head to clear it from the impacts. As Bennett began to move in for another attack, Casey moved forward with an attack of his own. He launched a side kick that was batted aside, but that had been a feint, as he moved in for an elbow strike with his left arm. The elbow strike hit home and Bennett fell backwards. Casey attacked again to stomp Bennett, but the man grabbed his foot and twisted it away, throwing Casey to the ground.
Casey must have been a bit disoriented getting up, as he rose with his back to Bennett. The other man took immediate advantage of the mistake.
Bennett came in behind Casey and wrapped Casey's left arm into a half Nelson hold, with Bennett's right going around Casey's throat. To Bennett's shock, that's when Casey's right arm left the sling and came to life. He reached up to grab Bennett by the back of his head in a grip of steel. Bennett tried to throw himself backward, away from Casey, but Casey's surprise use of the strong right arm had thwarted that move. Holding Bennett tight to him, Casey jumped as high as he could with both of their weights and somersaulted forward. The combined weight of both men was too much for a full revolution, so both men went down to the ground to land flat on Bennett's back. Casey's weight crushed the air from Bennett's lungs and broke several ribs. Bennett lay on the ground trying to catch his breath, in agony from the pain in his sides.
Casey, now using two hands fully, removed the sling and threw it aside. He picked up the handcuffs, rolled Bennett onto his front and cuffed the man's hands behind his back. From another pocket, he took ankle shackles and attached them as well. Quickly, Casey frisked Bennett, but found no weapons. He picked up Bennett and put him on his feet.
Once he could catch his breath, Bennett said, still somewhat breathless, "That was smart, John. Very smart. You never would have thought to use strategic deception before. You're getting better."
"I'm better than I've ever been, Ty."
"What has changed?" he asked.
"I'm with a new team now. Had to up my game to keep up with my partners," he said with a shrug.
"Come on." He began to lead Bennett down the hill, holding on to him the whole time. Bennett shuffled along at an awkward pace, the chain between his ankles not allowing for a full stride.
Three hundred yards down the hill, around a bend in the road, was the rest of Casey's team together with five officers from the Santa Fe Police Department and several vehicles.
Chuck and Sarah were sitting on the hood of a borrowed police SUV, their feet up on the bumper. "Here we go," said Chuck. Amy was chatting with one of the younger, better looking police officers.
Casey said, "I think he needs medical attention. I think I heard some ribs crack."
"Yes, Sir," said the senior-most officer.
A couple of the policemen moved forward to take Bennett from Casey. Sarah said to them, "Please treat him as the most dangerous prisoner you have ever had. Do not underestimate him in the slightest. And turn him over to the Feds as soon as you can."
"Will do, Ma'am," said the senior officer. "You sure you and your team don't want any credit for the collar? It's gonna be a big one after the four you gave us last night."
"Nope. Please keep our involvement between us," Sarah said.
"Yes Ma'am." He shrugged at the weird behavior of these Feds. But he and his officers would be happy for the collar to go on their records in any event.
Bennett turned to Casey and said, "Goodbye, John."
"Goodbye, Ty."
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A few days later, Amy and Casey were sitting at the bar at O'Malley's. Chuck and Sarah were sitting at a table behind them with Devon and Ellie doing wedding planning stuff. Jackie O'Malley had joined them for a while to work on the details for the engagement party, for which they were renting out the whole restaurant, but he left for other tasks when that planning was done.
Eileen came over to them with a beer for Casey and a glass of white wine for Amy. Casey stood up and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. She met him halfway.
"Hey, guys. What's new?" she asked.
"The usual. We're going to be giving notice to the Buy More soon. Guess that's new," said Casey, raising his beer to her.
"Oh, that's great. Carmichael Industries is far enough along that you can do that?" she asked.
"We don't have income yet, but we're getting closer. And it's taking up too much time to do that and the Buy More jobs," said Amy. And work for the CIA and defeat Fulcrum all the time, she thought, but didn't say the last part.
Eileen smiled happily and said, "How exciting. Good for you guys."
There was a signal from the other end of the bar and she hurried away to serve a small knot of customers.
Amy looked around for Morgan but didn't see him. She'd have to ask Eileen if he was working. She liked the little guy.
She took a sip of her wine and said, "Well, Chuck was right. When Beckman found out it was us in Santa Fe, she forgave us immediately."
"Yeah. I find Bartowski is usually right...but, don't tell him I said so."
"Oh, hell, no, Case. He'd never let you live it down," she said with a laugh.
"Exactly," he said with a deep growl.
Laughing, she shoulder bumped him and took another drink of her wine.
She was smiling a happy little smile. She really liked Casey. And loved Chuck and Sarah too, of course. They had opened their lives to her in a way that no prior partners ever had. Even Sarah was different now. More open and welcoming. Somehow kinder. It was Chuck's influence no doubt. She was incredibly excited to be a bridesmaid, for the first time in her life. And for them to bring her into Chuck's business was extraordinary generosity. They were more than partners and teammates. In the months they had been together, they had become close friends. Almost fam...her mind skittered off what she was about to think as a crushing dark horror hit her, like a huge fist closing around her throat.
Suddenly, Eileen had appeared in front of her, looking concerned, "What's wrong, Amy?"
Amy tossed her hair back and giggled. "Nothing at all. But I think I'll have another glass of wine now, please."
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A/N2: That ninja invisibility thing is pretty much make believe. I'm not saying that it's not part of the "lore" of ninjutsu. I just think it doesn't really work. But it's pretty cool, huh?
A/N3: Bennett caught. Life goes on. Wonder what's coming up next for our friends? Anyone wonder who's been hunting Fulcrum for months? Come back next week for the start of a non-canon arc. Let me know what you think, if you don't mind. Just takes few seconds and I really do appreciate it.