A/N: A friend here recently suggested that ownership of Chuck might be among the couch cushions. I'll have to look, but that involves leaving my dining room table.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
From the catwalk above them almost a dozen high intensity searchlights flashed on at the same time, pinning Team B in a harsh pool of light. Silhouettes appeared next to the lights. Silhouettes of men with weapons pointed down at them. More than a dozen men, closer to twenty.
An amplified man's voice, with a bit of an accent, said, "Drop your weapons." There was a pause and the same voice said, "No, holster your weapons."
With confused glances among themselves, as they faced almost twenty men with guns pointed at them, Team B, Barker and Reilly holstered their weapons and stood empty-handed.
Even while blinded by the searchlights, they could see the outlines of two men walking towards them slowly.
Just from the outlines they could see, the men were about the same height, but one was slender and the other bulky. They strove to get a better look, but the men stopped before coming into the light and remained shadows.
From behind them another figure approached, also moving slowly. This one was shorter and also slender. A woman. She moved gracefully and didn't rush. She passed between the two men and stepped into the light, but did not approach close enough to block the shots from any of the men on the catwalk. She was in her late 50's or early 60's, with dark features and black hair streaked with gray in places. She was dressed in black clothes, slacks and a blouse. Her dark eyes studied Chuck and his team carefully, but with neither anger nor friendship. The eyes were fierce and intelligent and measuring. Other than the soft sounds of her footsteps, there was absolute silence in the huge room. She was in charge; there was no question of that whatsoever. For such a small figure, her huge presence dominated the scene without her having said a word.
Finally, she spoke. "How disappointing," she said quietly. "We were hoping for a Fulcrum team." She spoke English with an accent. Maybe Sarah could identify it, but none of the others could. Expressionless, she slowly raised one hand and pointed at Sarah. "CIA Agent Sarah Walker." The finger moved. "NSA agent Major John Casey." It moved again. "You're the new one. Amy Turner, but you were there." Slowly, she lowered her finger and looked at Chuck. "And finally, the leader, Charles Carmichael or do you prefer Chuck Bartowski?" Looking at her closely, haunted by the certainty that he should know who she was, Chuck shrugged. Raising her finger once again, somewhat less dramatically this time, she pointed to Barker and Reilly. "I don't know you two."
"We're the local 'elp," said Reilly.
"Ah," she said, nodding in understanding. She looked at them for a bit longer and then said, pointing to Sarah, "You knocked my son down and saved his life." She pointed to Chuck. "You left the cover of some boxes to pull my wounded husband to safety. You risked your own life to do it. Thank you both."
Chuck got it (and mentally kicked himself that it had taken him as long as it did). Chuck said, softly, "You're Penthia Demetrios. Mrs. Demetrios, I'm so sorry about Yari's passing. He didn't deserve what happened to him."
"Thank you, Chuck. But it wasn't 'passing.' I detest euphemisms. It was murder. My husband was murdered. Now, I call myself Chíra... Widow. You may call me that."
The two men then stepped forward into the circle of light. The more slender of the two was Stavros Demetrios, the one-time owner of the Club Ares nightclub in Los Angeles, the one-time boyfriend of Lou Palone, and the son of the now deceased Yari Demetrios. He looked a bit haggard, as if he'd been working hard for days on end. But his eyes were clear.
Chuck said, "Hi, Stavros. I'm sorry about your dad."
"Thank you, Chuck."
Chuck looked at the other man. He was the one that Reggie Farnham had met. Thick with muscle, and not fat. Dark features and gold Rolex.
Chuck said, "You're Christos Demetrios. Mr. Demetrios, I'm sorry about you dad."
Christos nodded once in acknowledgement but remained silent.
Chuck turned back to their mother. "You and your family have been taking members of the organization that ordered your husband killed."
"Yes, we've been following a trail, body by body, interrogation by interrogation, until we found these two men. Delgado and Larkin. The man who actually murdered my husband and the man he was working to protect. Yes, Chuck, I know what happened on the docks that night. I know that you thought it was a bomb and convinced Yari to help you with that rationale. But it was really him," she stabbed a finger at Bryce, laying on the cement floor.
"That's true," Chuck agreed. "But we didn't know that at the time."
"I know you didn't. To repeat, we know everything that happened on the New Jersey docks that night. We obviously have a great deal of information about you and your team, Chuck. Other than us, you are the people Fulcrum is most frightened of. That makes us allies, I suppose," she said, with a small smile.
Chuck, on the other hand, shook his head. "Not exactly, Chíra. We don't torture people."
"You disapprove?"
"Yes. I strongly disapprove." He looked at her seriously, but his critical gaze had no effect on her at all. She met his eyes with a steady gaze of her own.
Chíra shrugged. "No, I suppose you don't torture people. The government you work for does, though, so..." She shrugged. "I don't see a difference. In any event, it does not matter. Why did you come here today?"
"We came to rescue these men," he said,
"Rescue? You didn't rescue any of the others. Why them?"
"Larkin got word to me. It was a lead we could follow. We came to get them before you had killed them."
"That phone call we were told about, before he threw away his phone," she said.
"Yes."
Chíra pondered for a few moments, looking between Chuck and Larkin. "We thought he might have called for help. It's why we were expecting a Fulcrum team to arrive. Leaving these two out as bait."
"And Christos' burner phone."
"Yes."
"You weren't easy to find," Chuck said.
"Good. We didn't know if or how anyone could track these two men, but set the trap just in case."
"What would you have done if we had been policemen?" asked Chuck.
"Other than be very surprised?" She gestured at the bound men on the floor. "Taken them with us if we could have. If we couldn't get them away? Shot and killed them and left quickly. One of our ships is here at the docks. We would have been on it and heading to sea before the police would have come to any conclusions. We would not have seriously hurt the policemen. We haven't injured anyone but Fulcrum. We are very good at this."
"Yes, you are. You have the intelligence agencies and the police departments stumped. We knew Fulcrum operatives had been disappearing and turning up dead, with evidence of your... interrogations, but until today, we didn't have any clues as to who or what had been responsible. You've been ghosts." Chíra tipped her head to acknowledge the compliment. "In any event, I'm afraid I must ask you for these two."
"No, Chuck. Allies of not, you cannot have these two men. They are going to die for what they did to my husband."
"We can interrogate them. We have the best drugs available. And afterwards, they will never see the light of day again. The American Intelligence Community has been at war with Fulcrum for months. Give them to us and let us deal with them."
"No. We have our own methods. They have not failed us yet. And, in this particular case... I'll be perfectly honest, Chuck, I want ... ekdíkisi..."
Sarah murmured "Revenge."
"Yes, Agent Walker. I want them to suffer. It is not noble or merciful, but I never claimed to be that."
"You will do more harm to Fulcrum by giving them to us. We can use the information we obtain to stop more of their activities. Maybe get closer to stopping them for good," said Sarah.
Chuck said, "Revenge will just eat you up inside, Chíra. It will leave you empty once you achieve it. For all the pain you may inflict on them, when it's over with, your husband will still be gone. Please rethink this course of action."
"Wise words for such a young man. I can see why you were able to convince Yari to help you. Fine then, if you prefer, I want justice, not revenge." For the first time, Chíra's calm seemed to be strained as her words came out faster and harsher. "It will be justice to me to see these men suffer for having taken my husband from me, having taken their father from my children, having taken their grandfather from my grandchildren. Anything less will not be justice. Not in my eyes." Her eyes were fiery as she spoke with barely restrained fury.
"Chíra, I'm sorry. We cannot let you keep them," said Chuck.
"Chuck, you are a brave man. Skilled, dangerous and very, very smart. But..." She waved around the room at the many men with guns still pointed at them. "... you do not have a choice in the matter."
Chuck sighed and knew she was right. He was out of options. He looked at Sarah, who nodded slightly. He looked at Casey, who gave an affirmative grunt.
"You are right. I cannot force you here and now. But there is something you do not know. Larkin is our man inside Fulcrum. He's been feeding us information since November. That's why I'm here. Not to save two random Fulcrum men. To save Larkin."
"No, he's been with them since March of last year."
"Yes. And when he got back to the United States, soon after your husband was killed by Delgado, Larkin managed to escape government custody. Rather than flee back to Fulcrum, or go to hide overseas or something, he came to me, to us. He agreed to go back under with Fulcrum and feed us information about their activities from the inside. He is the reason we've been so successful for the last few months. He hates Fulcrum and had nothing at all to do with your husband's death. He's been doing anything he can to defeat them and has been living in an incredibly dangerous spot."
"They say he's got a special thing in his head that makes him valuable to them."
"That's a lie he told them. He doesn't and never did."
She pondered that for a few more moments. "This is why he called you to come rescue him? Not the Fulcrum people?"
"Yes. It is."
Chíra Demetrios stared at Chuck for long moments, trying to decide if she should trust him. He met her gaze unflinchingly. She turned to look at Sarah, who nodded her head, yes. She looked at Casey who grunted and nodded.
Finally, she looked at Amy who said, "Honestly, I knew they had someone inside, but it was such a closely held secret that they never told me who it was. I didn't know it was Larkin until you took him last night. But it makes sense, Chíra."
Chuck glanced down at Larkin and Delgado, who were watching the conversation with almost unblinking eyes.
Chíra turned her eyes back to Chuck and watched him silently for a while longer. Finally, she said, "Fine. Take Larkin. But Delgado stays."
Delgado let out a sound like a whimper.
"Thank you, Chíra." said Chuck.
Chuck and Casey bent down to Larkin. When the tape came off his mouth, Chuck could see that many of the teeth on the left side of his mouth had been smashed out and those that remained were a bloody mess.
Chuck looked at Delgado and said quietly, "Sorry, Mr. Delgado."
Casey growled, quietly, "I'm not sorry, you miserable fuck. No more trigger finger for you, you asshole." He took out a folding knife and flipped it open with his thumb. The sharp blade made short work of Larkin's bindings.
Delgado merely looked back at them with horror tinged with despair.
It took both men to lift Larkin from the ground, but once up, he groaned in agony. Holding on to Chuck and Casey's arms, he steadied himself, but couldn't stand up fully straight. Once he had gotten his balance, he began to hobble forward, his breath coming in rasping gasps of pain as he moved. Casey and Chuck kept light hands on his arms in case he needed help. He approached Chíra Demetrios, looking at her with his one eye not swollen shut, and said in a slurred voice, "I'm very sorry about your husband, Ma'am." He stuck out his hand to shake her's. She looked at him startled for a moment and then shook his hand.
With Casey and Chuck still helping to hold him up, Larkin walked around her to her sons. He went to Christos first and said, "I'm sorry about your father." He shook his hand. Then he went to Stavros and repeated the process.
Sarah said to Chíra Demetrios, "Thank you. We'll leave Delgado to you and take Larkin to get medical treatment." Reilly and Barker came to them and took Larkin from Casey and Chuck, leading him towards the exit. Larkin was sagging and they were bearing much of his weight.
Chuck shook hands with Christos.
He turned to Stavros, "It's good to see you again, Stavros. Shitty circumstances, but good to see you."
"You too, Chuck."
"You know, I do love that retsina you introduced me to. I order it whenever we're having Greek food."
Stavros chuckled. "I'll send you a case of it. We make some at our winery."
"Not necessary, Stavros, but thanks anyway. Please be careful. These are dangerous people."
"I understand, Chuck. So are we. So are we."
Chuck glanced over his shoulder at Delgado and said, "I can't really argue with that." The men shook hands.
Chíra said, "I will contact you with any information we extract from Delgado. Or any of the other Fulcrum men in the future. Now that we've opened communication between our forces, we can feed you what we find out. It will not be as useful as a man inside, but it may help. We aren't stopping until that whole cursed organization is destroyed, including the one they call their leader."
"No. Thank you, but I don't want to take information obtained under torture," said Chuck.
"Can you afford your scruples, Chuck?" asked Chíra.
"Afford them or not, they are mine and I'm not giving them up," Chuck said with a shrug.
"Very well, young man. Good luck to you and your team," she said.
Chuck reached out to shake her hand. She scoffed, but smiled and pulled him in for a nice Greek hug and a kiss on each cheek. Her face had taken on a kind aspect that belied what she intended for Fulcrum in general and Delgado in particular.
Sarah, Amy and Chuck began to follow the Englishmen and Larkin out of the building, but Casey hung back a few steps.
He turned back to Christos once the others had begun to go and handed him a business card. He said quietly, "I have fewer scruples."
Christos nodded with a small smile and clapped Casey once on the shoulder. Casey hustled ahead to join the others.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reilly was driving the van, with Amy in the passenger seat. He had told them that there was a special hospital reserved for injured spies and that was there that he was heading.
The van had a comprehensive medical pack stored under a bench and they had Bryce lying on the floor on a clean tarp attended to by Barker and Casey. With their military training, they were the best choices to tend to his wounds until they could get him to the doctors. Barker put an IV into his arm while Casey used first aid shears to cut off his bloody clothes to better examine his injuries. Bryce kept saying, "Thank you. Thank you."
As his lower body was exposed, Chuck gasped and looked away. Even Casey winced at the sight.
As the enormity of the relief of rescue hit him, Bryce began to cry. He looked up at Chuck with his one good eye and reached out to grab his friend's hand. He was sobbing. "I knew you'd come, Chuck. I knew you'd come. You've never let me down. Not once. Not ever. I knew it. I knew you'd save me."
Barker fed some morphine into the IV and Bryce went to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N2: Mystery solved. The Demetrios family is after Fulcrum for the death of their patriarch, Yari Demetrios in Chapter 48. They seem to be pretty competent hunters, as this is the first time they have been identified. Obviously, I've been planning this revelation ever since we met Stavros at Club Ares. In canon (Hard Salami), when the government forces were seizing his men at the Los Angeles docks, twice Stavros moved his father to what he thought was safety and stood his ground even when he (Stavros) stood no chance of prevailing. I took from that behavior that Stavros loved his dad very much. That realization was the impetus for the actions of the Demetrios family in this AU. Hope you approve. Finally, we now know that Bryce Larkin lives. I know some of you may be disappointed, but if it's any consolation he's pretty badly hurt. Approve? Disapprove? Meh? Let me know what you think, please. I do love hearing from you.
A/N3: I may be traveling next weekend and, if I am, I cannot promise that I will have an adequate internet connection. I will do my best to get chapter 125 to you on time, but if I am delayed, please forgive me.