A/N: Last chapter retold S3E12, and, like the episode, ended on a cliffhanger. Sorry about that.
This chapter is the retelling of S3E13, "Chuck versus the Other Guy."
If you were one of the few that left a review, thank you.
Thanks to my pre-reader, JohnnyRayChandlett, for his suggestions on how to improve this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.
Prove Yourself
Chapter 19 – Saving
As she sits in the car, awaiting her appointment with death, Sarah thinks about poor Chuck. He won't know what has happened and will have to pick up his life again, without her. His words, only that morning, ring through her head. 'I couldn't live with myself if you got killed. I'd probably want to kill myself. I couldn't live without you.'
This isn't his fault, so he shouldn't feel any guilt, but he will have to live without her. She knows he will be devastated, just like she would if their roles in this were reversed. As they said in the morning, the one left behind would struggle to carry on.
Please don't kill yourself, Chuck!
She turns to Shaw. "You know you don't have to drive into the dessert to kill me. You could've done that in LA."
Daniel Shaw's face stayed grim, but he responds, almost jovially, "Now why would I want to kill you?"
Sarah isn't going to talk about that night in Paris, so she asks another question, "Why else would you have me cuffed?"
"Oh, there could be any number of reasons," he replies, giving none.
"Such as?"
"To show you something or maybe implicate you in something or even to hand you over to someone."
"You are handing me over to the Ring? You've turned traitor?"
His face changes for the first time and looks very angry. "I am no traitor; I do what needs to be done."
"Like kidnapping me!" she snaps back.
He looks back at the road, saying nothing more leaving her in silence once again.
She can only think about her poor love, back in Burbank, completely unaware of her plight. Expecting to see her for lunch.
Lunch! He will find she is missing and has left no note. He'll realize something is wrong. Maybe look at footage and see her being taken from the Orange, Orange. Hopefully, he'll see the car and the driver.
Her brilliant boyfriend will work it out, but will he be able to get to her before Shaw kills her or hands her to the Ring?
If he does come, will he be able to overpower Shaw or will Shaw kill him too?
Her head is swirling with these thoughts as they reach a warehouse.
Shaw pulls up next to the entrance and turns to her. "We have to go in. If I release your ankles, you'll probably kick me in the face or at least try to take me with one of your infamous kicks. So, chloroform it is."
He pours some onto a cloth and she, once again, finds her mouth and nose covered.
Blackness.
As she wakes, she finds herself tied to a chair, once again. She groggily looks around her.
She is in the middle of a large space within the warehouse facing a large monitor and behind that and around the walls many larger screens. None are on as yet.
She hears footsteps behind her. That can only be Daniel Shaw. As he comes into view, she dryly comments, "Getting a feeling of déjà vu. Is this how you treat all the girls?"
He is not bothered by such comments. "No. Only you."
He walks over to the desk in front of the monitor and taps on the keyboard of the laptop there.
A video starts playing.
Sarah's heart sinks. This is the one General Beckman had played some time ago. Evelyn Shaw joking and laughing with the person who had taken the video, her husband. Then, it shifts to a black and white recording of Evelyn stooping to pick something off the floor on a Parisian street corner. As she stands, someone with long blonde hair appears facing her, with their back to the camera. Evelyn reaches into her bag and the woman swiftly pulls a gun from her pocket and shoot her. As Evelyn collapses to the floor, the person, turns and her face is caught on the camera. Sarah Walker.
As she watches it, Sarah thinks how inexperienced she was. She should have known where all the cameras were and avoided being caught like that. Will I pay now for that inexperience all those years ago?
She acts flawlessly here in the warehouse to make him believe this is the first time she has seen the footage. "What is going on? What is this? This is my Red Test. Why would they have my surveillance footage from my first kill?"
He replies, "Just take a breath."
She states, honestly, "This is the worst moment of my life up there on that monitor."
The woman on the screen says to the cameraman, "I love you."
Shaw replies to Sarah, "Mine, too."
She responds, "What? Why? Who is she?"
In a sotto voice, he replies, "Evelyn Shaw."
Sarah gasps. "I killed your wife?"
He replies, "You had no idea that the Ring was behind this."
She stares at him. "Shaw, I killed your wife."
"This isn't your fault."
She shakes her head. "I thought I was a good spy."
"This isn't your fault. Hey... it's okay."
She looks down at her hands and legs tied to the chair. "If it's okay. Why do you have me tied down?"
"To make you watch this."
"Why?"
"You have to tell me who ordered this."
"I got the order from Langston Graham."
"But who gave him the order."
"I don't know. You know you're given very little information on your Red Test, deliberately. It's a test of your loyalty. Whether you will just follow orders without question."
He replies, "Then you'll help me find who did give the order. And help me take down the Ring in the process."
He reaches to untie her and then collapses onto the floor in front of her.
Sarah can see a tranq dart in his neck. Then she hears a voice that is music to her ears. "Sarah!"
She watches as the love of her life runs down the stairs and towards her.
He smothers her with kisses. When he pulls back to look at her, she smirks at him. "Not sure I like being ravaged when tied up, Chuck." He looks shocked at the thought. She continues, "You could untie me, you know. Then I could hold you and kiss you more effectively."
He rushes to untie her and then she is in his arms again, but kissing him back.
There's a grunt from behind Chuck. Sarah opens her eyes and looks at John Casey who comments,. "We're here to liberate you, not record a porno."
The general is glaring at Chuck, "Who on Earth gave you the authority to bring John Casey, a civilian, in on your rescue attempt?"
Chuck is obviously frustrated at being verbally assaulted by the woman. "General, it was Sarah. I couldn't risk Shaw overpowering me and killing her. I needed back up and I needed it faster that you'd get it to me."
The general is about to speak, but Chuck gets in again, "If I'd waited for you to authorize anything, we'd have lost her. Anyway, this was better than Casey's own suggestion that I get air, armor, everything to support me."
Sarah hides her smile at that, thinking it wouldn't help the situation.
Beckman frowns and is obviously going to rebuke him again, so Sarah asks a question to deflect that anger away from him. "Why did you let Shaw go, General?"
That took the wind out of the general's sails. Her frown increases and she replies, "I was informed he has some vital evidence against the Ring. I wanted to get you two to talk to him."
Chuck is still angry. "By letting him free? What were you thinking, General?"
She visibly controls herself. "He was to be brought to you, but he escaped."
Chuck throws his hands up in the air.
Sarah calmly asks, "And why weren't we told?"
Beckman now looks embarrassed. "I thought we'd find him before you needed to know."
Sarah then surprises the general. "He wasn't going to kill me. He was about to release me when Chuck…" she looks at him and gives him a smile. "… saved me."
Looking back at the general, she continues, "I think we should bring him out of the holding cell and have him talk to all four of us." She glares at the woman on the screen. "As far as I'm concerned, Casey is back on the team."
The general doesn't look pleased at that, but nods. "Very well."
Casey collects Shaw and brings him through, perhaps less gently than he should. He pushes Shaw down into a chair and stands behind him.
Shaw looks at the screen. "General Diane Beckman. What an honor."
She glowers at him, "Cut the crap, Shaw. Where did you get that recording?"
He simply states, "The Ring Director gave it to me. He thought it would turn me. It didn't, but raises more questions than it answers."
"Such as?"
He stares at her. "General, did you check Sarah's records? Any clues as to who ordered her Red Test?"
Beckman shakes her head. She'd told Sarah this before, so it was no surprise when the general says, "I'm afraid Langston Graham took that secret to his grave."
"Then I suggest we work together to capture the Director and take down the Ring," he sounds convincing, although Sarah still doubts he can really forgive his wife's killer.
She quickly ponders if she could forgive someone who killed Chuck. Quite simply, no, whatever the circumstances, she would not forgive. Even if the killer was following an order. She would hunt the killer and everyone responsible as her only goal in life. Her suspicion about Shaw heightens, but she can't say anything at this moment. Just like Shaw is a threat to her and Chuck's security, the Ring is a threat to the CIA's very existence. All involved are playing for high stakes, so she begrudgingly accepts that they have to take the risk.
Chuck is more vocal, "General, that's not a good idea. He just found out that Sarah killed his wife, he can't be stable."
Shaw glares at him, but before he can speak, the general states. "That's not your call, Analyst Bartowski." Her emphasis on his title is not missed by anyone there.
The general looks at Sarah. "As the senior agent in charge, it's your call, Agent Walker."
She's been thinking about this while Chuck and the general have been talking. She makes the decision. "Getting that Director would be a big gain, General. If you think we should take the chance, I'll go along with you on it."
The general smiles for the first time. "Thank you, Agent Walker. Work out what you plan to do and then get back to me."
As the general's visage fades, Shaw just comments, "I assume you'll give me access here." He walks up the stairs to leave. "I'll be back this evening at 7 PM for our mission." With that he leaves.
Chuck turns to his girlfriend. "I don't trust him, Sarah. That crap about it not being your fault you shot Evelyn."
She explains to him, "Chuck, if we can capture the Ring Director, it's worth the risk."
He vehemently disagrees, "Nothing is worth risking your life, Sarah."
She takes his hands in her own. "Thank you for thinking that, Chuck, but it's not true. I've taken risks all my time in the CIA. This is no different."
Sarah can see that she won't be able to change his mind. She stands and pulls him up. "Come on, a trip to our beach will clear our heads."
Rather than planning to just sit at their spot on the beach, Sarah had taken them back to the apartment and they'd changed into swimwear before putting on t-shirts and shorts and then driving to the beach.
Just like the last time they were on the beach together, Sarah feels all her troubles disappear. She feels so relaxed, watching the waves roll in, listening to them and to the seabirds.
Last time was before they became lovers. Now she lies next to the love of her life holding hands. That just brings another level of joy.
The fact that he has difficulty looking at her bikini clad body amuses her. He'd seen her in nothing at all, but a skimpy bikini still made his heart pulse and threatens to show how he really feels about her. That makes her heart flutter. To be honest, seeing him just in swim shorts makes her feel like driving straight back to the apartment. I'm as bad as he is!
She starts to lie back on her towel, but then glances over at her loving boyfriend. He is lying down with his eyes closed. She can't resist leaning over and kissing his lips gently. She feels his lips curl into a smile before kissing her back. It's all they need right now. A confirmation of their love for each other.
She settles back onto her towel and closes her eyes too, while thinking that, if nothing else, this has completely taken his mind off the mission.
"Sarah, this mission tonight. How does Shaw know where to go?"
She is changing into her gear for the evening. Having kept Chuck from worrying about the mission all day, the beach being the perfect distraction, she is now wishing they had come back earlier, to talk.
"I don't know, Chuck," she replies.
"I think it's suspicious," he firmly states.
"You just don't trust him, Chuck."
"I don't understand why you do," his voice almost a whine.
She places her hands on each of his shoulders and looks him in the eyes. "A lot of missions I've been on, over the years, have been with people a lot less trustworthy. I'm still here. Trust me, Chuck."
His jaw tightens. "I do trust you, Sarah, but I'll be watching him all the time."
She smiles and places her palm on the side of his face. "My protector." She leans forward and gently kisses his lips.
"Not only that, Casey will be monitoring everything we say," he informs her.
That makes her frown. "How?"
He looks smug. "We're both wearing our watches and he'll be in Castle."
She is surprised by that. "Beckman hasn't accepted him back yet, Chuck."
"Don't care. I trust him more than anyone, don't you?" He looked at her almost challengingly.
She didn't have to think for long. "Only you."
That makes him look flustered. "Oh, I-"
She cuts him off. "I know you trust me most, Chuck. I just had to say it, though. I trust you with my life, not just physically, but in every way."
He grabs her into a searing kiss. She gives in to it for a few seconds, then pushes him away. "Mission, Chuck! Save that for later."
"I'm gonna hate this, Bartowski. Feels like being in the van, but worse. I can't run in and save the day." Casey looks pissed.
"You know you shouldn't even be in here, Casey," Sarah comments.
Grunt, an annoyed one.
"God, I've missed those grunts!" Chuck exclaims and Casey, for a fleeting moment, looks genuinely touched.
Sarah glances at the time. Nearly 7 PM. She grabs Chuck's hand. "Come on, show time."
They have just left Orange, orange when Shaw's car pulls up.
He gets out and walks to them. "Not letting me in, then?"
Sarah is about to say it hasn't gone through yet, but Chuck speaks first, "Not until you've proved we can trust you."
Shaw nods, "That's fair. Okay, follow me."
He leaps back into his car and they have to run to Sarah's to be able to follow him.
"Couldn't he have just told us where to go?" Chuck asks, while holding on as Sarah speeds after the black car.
"It seems he's even less talkative than I am," she replies.
They reach a large office block. Chuck talks into his watch. "You with us, Casey?"
The tiny earpiece each has in their ear sounds with a grunt.
Sarah grins. She's happy to have him back too.
The three enter the building, evade the guards and get to the space above a lift shaft. As Shaw is letting Chuck and Sarah catch the director, they attach the lines to their belts, ready to enter the lift shaft.
Shaw walks over to them. "You okay, Chuck?"
Chuck is obviously surprised that Shaw has spoken to him. "Huh, what, me? Yeah, ready to go."
Shaw speaks to both of them "The director has his own private elevator. You two are gonna rappel down to it. When the director leaves, grab him; I'll pull you back up." He goes and check his sensor panel.
Once everything is set up. Shaw walks back to them "Okay. Ready?" They nod.
Shaw turns to look just at Chuck. "Don't worry about the warehouse, Chuck. I trust you completely."
Chuck replies, "Yeah." Sarah is glad that is all Chuck says as she can see in his eyes that Shaw's attempt to turn the tables about who trusts whom is bothering him.
She and Chuck rappel down to the top of the lift. Sarah speaks into her watch, "Okay, Shaw, we're down."
Chuck catches her attention. "Hey."
She looks at him. "What's the matter?"
"Just my concern about Shaw. While he may be a great spy, and not a traitor; emotionally, the guy is Swiss cheese."
She tries again to reassure him. "Chuck, Shaw is one step closer to capturing the director. And I'm sure that is all he is thinking about, so don't even worry."
Shaw's voice comes through to them. "All right, Sarah, I'm accessing the elevator's controls."
They hear some noise from above. Then a shot rings out and a bullet hit the lift frame near them.
Chuck immediately assumes the worst. "See! See! He's trying to kill us."
Sarah tells him, "If he was, he would have done it while we were coming down." She calls up the shaft, "Shaw, are you okay?"
Chuck is spiraling. "He's having a mental break. We're fish in a barrel."
They then hear Shaw, "Sorry about that, guys. Little Ring company."
Sarah looks over at Chuck. "See, I told you he wasn't trying to kill us."
Shaw continues to talk, "All right. I'm opening the hatch."
They drop through into the lift.
She pulls out her gun, Chuck does the same and Sarah looks at it. "Oh, don't worry. It's a tranq gun," he tells her.
"Okay, fine. Just sell that it's real," she advises him. "I don't want to lose you."
He smirks. "Right, of course. Ruthless spy." Then he looks at her. "You're gonna take care of most of them though, right?"
Shaw advises, "Sarah, internal security system is detecting something moving toward the elevator."
She tells Chuck, "Looks like the director's coming in early."
He nods, "Time to meet our bad guy." They move to either side of the entrance.
The director walks in. As the lift doors shut, he turns around, and finds himself facing two people with guns. Sarah says, "One word and you're dead."
He doesn't look at all perturbed. "Now, this is brazen."
Chuck stutters, "That... that was four words."
The director ignores him and continues, "Kidnapping me in my own lift. Impressive. But there's absolutely no chance you'll get the Cipher."
Shaw asks, "Did he just say Cipher?"
Sarah replies, "Yeah."
Chuck frowns and asks, "What do you mean?"
The director scoffs. "Don't play dumb. You're better than that. We've been building our own Intersect for a year. You know that."
Shaw says, "Of course. The Cipher is the Intersect's core processor."
Sarah keeps her gun pointing at the man's head. "Fine, so it's here. So, where exactly is it?"
He just smiles, "You won't get five feet from this door. My security will be on you in seconds."
Sarah gives him a cold look. "Well, that's tough because either we get the Cipher or..."
Chuck interrupts her telling the director, "Pull out your Ring phone."
The man tries to look askance. "What Ring phone?" Sarah cocks her gun, ready to fire. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a circular device. "You mean, this Ring phone?"
Chuck replies, "Yeah, that Ring phone. Call your assistant. Have them bring the Cipher to you here."
Good thinking, Chuck.
She keeps her gun steady. "And put it on speakerphone. You give her one warning, and I'm gonna..."
He looks condescendingly at her. "Please. I know the drill." He talks into the phone, "Denise. Bring the cypher to me in my lift."
A few minutes later, they hear the tapping of heels as a woman approaches the lift. The doors open. "Sir, you asked for this." She reaches to him with the device, then continues, still not coming in, "Also, I spoke with Operative 6. They'll proceed with the coup in 15 minutes. The Spanish Ambassador also called back with the ransom offer. He wants to close by end of day tomorrow at the latest."
He replies, "Thank you, Denise. And please text me when the plane lands in … Barcelona."
Sarah reaches out and pulls the woman in. she tells Chuck. "'Barcelona'- it's a code."
Chuck has obviously guessed that. "What are we supposed to do with her now?"
The director replies, "Well, personally, I'd shoot her. Decisions, decisions."
Sarah nods to Chuck, who does shoot her, as Sarah says, "Shaw, what's going on?"
He replies, "Just need a few more seconds."
She snaps, "Well, we don't have seconds."
The lift doors open again. "Sorry, sir. One of our guys heard something strange in the elevator shaft."
Sarah pulls this man in as well. As the doors shut, Chuck shoots him too. He looks down at the bodies on the floor. "This is getting ridiculous."
Shaw tells them, "I've got it. Here we go."
The director smirks, "You know it's over, right?"
Sarah asks, "What?"
He replies, calmly, even though two of his people are lying on the floor. "This was a trap. For you."
Chuck turns and shoots him as well. "In for a penny."
The lights flicker and the door behind Sarah opens. Three men stand outside with guns pointing at them. One says, "Drop your weapons."
Sarah looks at Chuck and shakes her head telling him not to try anything. The last thing she wants id for Chuck to be shot. "Sorry, Chuck." She bends and puts her gun down.
There are three shots and each of the men drop to the floor outside the lift. Shaw is walking towards them. "Go. Take the service elevator to the fifth floor, then the north stairwell. I'll get the Cipher. I'll meet you back at Castle."
Sarah picks up her gun and grabs the Cipher. "No. I've got it. We'll all go."
Shaw takes one look at the director, then follows them out.
Beckman looks at the four of them. She scowls at Casey, when she first sees him, then ignores his presence. "Good work, Team. On a separate screen Chuck is watching Shaw fighting with two Ring agents. He asks Shaw, "Where'd you get this? Where'd we get this footage?"
Shaw replies, "I tapped into the building security feed during the op."
Chuck turns to the main screen, "General, I think it's worth noting that we would all be dead if it were not for Shaw."
She acknowledges that.
Sarah chips in, "General, there's also the issue of the Cipher. The Director said that the Ring was making a new Intersect."
Beckman replies, "Relax. My team analyzed their Cipher and found a number of problems in the design. Obviously, the Ring isn't as far along as they thought."
Shaw had been studying the details of that report. "Looks like the Cipher's components were fabricated in France."
The general replies to them all. "That's right. Agent Walker and Mr. Bartowski, I need you to follow this trail to Paris. We believe the Ring's design facility is there."
Shaw states, "I should go with them."
She looks at him. "No. This was a one-time mission for you. You're coming back to DC. For full debriefing."
She turns to Casey, "As for you. I'll talk to you later about coming back into Castle, Civilian."
Casey winces.
Looking at Chuck, Beckman says, "Please escort him out."
Sarah notices Casey pocket a thumb drive, but says nothing.
Beckman turns to Sarah expectantly. Sarah tells her, "We can be in the air in an hour."
They are about to get on their plane, when Sarah gets a call. She looks at her cell phone. "It's Casey," she tells Chuck.
"Hi, Casey."
He replies, "Shaw's working for the Ring."
She doesn't agree. "No. He helped us; I saw him shoot several of them."
"Must've been blanks." He pauses. "Grimes spotted something on the footage. Shaw pulled his punches and his kick didn't connect."
She and Chuck are now the last to board. "Casey, we have to board the plane. Go into Castle and tell the general."
"Sure thing," he replies.
As they board, she tells Chuck about the call.
"Good work, Morg," he comments. She can't help thinking the same. He adds, "Must be all those movies he watches."
As the plane taxis before taking off, Sarah looks at her boyfriend. "You did good in the lift, Chuck."
He grins. "No one killed, but all of them down."
She leans over and puts her head on his shoulder. "Never change, Chuck."
He strokes her hair. "I won't, Sarah, I won't."
One of the advantages of being an agent, is that you can take calls whilst flying. It is also one of the disadvantages, especially if you want to get some sleep.
Sarah's cell phone rings. She has just dozed off, but is instantly awake. She answers the call. "Walker."
"Sorry to be calling, Agent Walker, but there's been a development."
"I know what Casey was going to tell you, Ma'am." Sarah is careful not to say the title of the person on the call.
Beckman tells her, "That's not all. Shaw went missing shortly after you boarded your plane."
Sarah sits up. Chuck looks at her questioningly, but she can't tell him straight away. "Where was he heading?"
"We spotted him again at the airport. We think he's following you. I wanted to tell you, to prepare you."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
"That's all, Agent Walker."
She puts the phone down on her lap. "Shaw's following us."
Chuck frowns, "Can't they detain him when he lands in Paris?"
"He's too good for that. We have to keep an eye out for him, while we are there."
Chuck and Sarah start their investigation, searching for the design facility. They don't get far before Sarah gets a call from Casey.
"Beckman reinstated me."
She smiles. "Great."
He comments, "I'm coming to Paris to help."
Her smile gets even larger. "Even better."
He finishes with, "Take care until I get there."
She turns to Chuck. "Some good news for a change. Casey is reinstated and on his way."
Chuck looks so relieved. "Fantastic. When will he get here?"
"He didn't say …" she starts. Why didn't I ask him that?
"… but when he gets here, he can look for and take out Shaw, who won't be expecting him," she finishes.
"Even better," says Chuck, grinning.
Chuck is waiting in a café for Sarah to join him. As she walks up, she sees a tranq dart appear in Chuck's neck and he slumps onto the table.
Before she can search for the shooter, she feels a sharp pain in her neck and slumps on the other side of the table.
She starts to come to. Daniel Shaw is next to her, supporting her against a railing and it is now dark.
"I decided to use Chuck's method instead of chloroform, this time," he comments jovially.
Chuck!
"What have you done with him?" she nervously asks, fearing the answer.
He smiles. "Oh, he's in an alley near to where I took you. He's not the person I wanted."
She realizes where she is. "Why did you bring me here? This is where I shot her."
She pulls her gun out, aiming it at him, but struggles to keep it up.
He just stares at her. "Sarah... you killed my wife. Did you really think that I'd be okay with that?"
She frowns and starts, "But you said that..." As she says it, she knows if she had skipped tactical considerations earlier, and just followed her instincts, then none of this would have happened.
"I told you a lot of things to get you here," he replies, calmly, ignoring the gun completely.
She suddenly feels it is difficult to keep her arms up and the gun still pointing at him.
"The gun's getting heavy, isn't it?" he mentions.
She looks at her shoulder and sees a dart. Not a tranq dart. She drops the gun, turning to see someone behind her.
As he picks up her gun, the Ring director says, "You know, you could hurt someone with this."
Her knees go weak and she starts to fall, but Shaw catches her, whispering into her ear. "There's a little cafe around the corner. Let's sit down, discuss the details. Just relax. It's all over now."
He walks her to the café and helps her down into one of the chairs. Everything is swirling before her eyes, including Shaw.
His moving face starts to speak. "The drug is a special toxin. It won't kill you. It simply immobilizes your nervous system. I want you to see what's gonna happen next. I need you to understand why I'm doing this."
She can't move a muscle, just sits there listening and vaguely seeing.
The Ring director sits next to her. "Sarah, looking very striking in that scarlet coat. I see you've met my newest Ring agent."
She struggles, but manages to whisper one word, "Why?"
She is asking Shaw, but the director replies, "Well, I offered Daniel the chance to not only avenge his wife's death, but to destroy the very institution that ordered her murder: your CIA. The CIA believed that Eve had been turned by us. Your boss Langston Graham assigned you to kill her. You did what you were told."
Shaw started talking now, "I'm going to send a message to the CIA that they betrayed the wrong man."
The director pats him on the back. "Very well put, Daniel."
Shaw continues, "They need to know what they did to me. They need to feel the pain that I felt. And that... is why I have to kill you."
The director turns to him. "On that note, do you have it with you?"
Sarah sees Shaw reach down and show a laptop, which he then drops back into its case. "The report details the problems with your Cipher. The technical data should help your scientists complete the new Intersect."
He hands the case to the director, who passes it to someone behind him and says, "Thank you, Daniel. We'll be in touch. Do you need us to, uh... ?" She sees his shaky hand swipe across his neck,
Shaw replies, "No. I want to show her the river. It's... beautiful at night."
The director replies, "Well, good night, then. Good-bye, Sarah."
He walks off with the man that had joined him.
Shaw looks at her. "Time to go." He pulls her arm up and around his shoulder and walks her to the nearby bridge.
She is sensing less and less. The drug must be starting to cause her to slowly close down, but she wills herself to stay awake. Chuck might still get to her before Shaw decides to finally kill her.
I love you, Chuck. I am so sorry if I leave you behind.
They reach the bridge and Shaw leans her against it and starts talking again, "The drug will dull the pain. You won't feel a thing."
She realizes he is going to push her off the bridge, but she doesn't have any control over her body to fight. She can only see the water down below.
Goodbye, my love. What we had was so special. I am grateful for the time we did have together. Please go on to a full life with someone else.
Then she hears Chuck's voice. "Stop!"
Facing the water, she can't see him and now feels sad that he will watch her final moments.
Shaw asks him, "How'd you find me?"
Chuck answers, "I've read your file... your wife's, every mission you've been on, every paper you wrote at West Point, every travel report. You come here once a year in memory of your wife's death. It made morbid sense that you'd want Sarah to see it, too."
"Smart. Very smart," Shaw almost sounds impressed.
Chuck tells him, "You're under arrest. Now, stand away from Sarah."
Sarah can almost hear the humor in Shaw's voice, "Less smart, Chuck. You should pull the trigger. Now. Kill me."
Sarah knows Chuck can't do that. It's not in him. Where's your tranq pistol, Chuck?
Chuck tells him, "I wouldn't do that." Shaw must be reaching for his gun.
Sarah's mind is screaming the words she can't. No! Don't shoot Chuck! I love him!
She hears shooting, but it's not nearby. Shaw comments, "I see you brought Casey."
Casey? Really?
Chuck replies, "He joined us … and he's currently taking care of your new Director."
Sarah is glad of that. At least some good has come of this.
Shaw smugly replies, "And you've got me?"
Chuck shouts, "Move away from Sarah!"
Smarmy Shaw notes, "I guess the gun was his idea. Good."
She manages to twist around and watch what is happening.
Chuck is facing them with a gun in his hand. Shaw just in front of her, has his back to her, but obviously has his gun pointing at Chuck.
Chuck looks and sounds desperate. "No, Shaw, don't do this."
She is losing her ability to stay awake, but she hears Shaw slowly explain to Chuck, "You can't flash, can you? Those emotions get you into trouble. I didn't want to hurt you. None of this was your fault. I haven't told them your secret. But now I'm going to kill you both."
Sarah passes out, unable to stay with them any longer.
Amazingly, she's not dead and starts to revive. She is lying in a bed. The bed in the hotel room she had been sharing with Chuck.
The covers are over her body. She turns her head, without opening her eyes.
Then she hears something she thought she had heard it for the last time on that bridge. Chuck's voice, gently bringing her back to reality. "Hey."
She opens her eyes and tries to rise, but only manages to push herself up onto her pillow, facing him.
He comes and sits by her, placing his laptop the other side of her. His calm, gentle voice continues, "How you feeling?"
She replies with a question rather than an answer. "Uh. What happened?"
He looks a bit evasive. "Everything's okay now."
That doesn't answer her question. Everything from before is eluding her. She vaguely remembers Shaw being with her. "What about Shaw?"
He holds her gaze for a few seconds then says, "He's dead."
She tries to take that in. How?
Things start coming back to her. She manages to sit up, leaning back against the headboard. "Oh, my God, we... there was a... there was a cafe and... and a bridge, and he tried to kill me, and..." Realization of what must have happened after she passed out hits her. "Oh, my God, you must have shot him."
He looks away. "I couldn't let him hurt you, Sarah. Trust me, I did what I had to do. But I'm still the same guy. I'm still Chuck. I promise."
She doesn't care about what he had to do or how he did it. She tells him, "You saved me." She looks lovingly at him, but he is still looking mortified, so she leans forward and kisses his amazing lips, placing her hand on the side of his face.
He pulls away slightly and looks at her and a big smile appears on his lips, but that's not what she wants those lips doing. She places her hand on his neck and pulls him back to her and their kiss, still tender and loving, restarts with his hand behind her head.
His laptop beeps and they separate to see General Diane Beckman appear on the screen.
"Chuck, Sarah, excellent work. I've consulted with Colonel Casey, and he brought me up to speed."
Sarah and Chuck look at each other, briefly. Both obviously thinking of ending the call abruptly.
Beckman continues, "I'll expect a full report when you get back to Burbank."
Chuck replies, "Actually, General, Sarah still needs time to fully recover from the drugs and we also still have the current mission to complete. We're gonna need a few more days in Paris."
Beckman obviously considers this for a while. "Hmm. I wanted you back for a new mission. Last night a team of Peruvian assassins broke into..."
Chuck interrupts her. "Then let Casey deal with it. He can get help from Morgan Grimes."
All this sounds crazy to Sarah. "Morgan is a civilian, Chuck."
Beckman replies, "No. He's right. Grimes already knows about you all, and is … capable with computers, so can help the colonel. He's right about your current mission too. Very well. Agent Walker you recover, then you both complete your mission. I'll talk to you again in two days." She leans forward and ends the call.
Chuck starts explaining what has been happening, "About Casey and Morgan…"
She puts a finger over his lips, instructing him, "Shut up, kiss me and make love to me."
He doesn't need to be told again. He leans towards her, starts kissing her and pushing her back down onto her pillow.
As well as his lips, Sarah loves his hands on her and hers on him.
Sarah can completely give in to her feelings once again, knowing that life will be good now, without any thoughts of Daniel Shaw ruining it for them.
A/N: So, that was an alternative take on S3E13, same results, but played out differently. I always thought it crazy that their Paris mission was forgotten in the show.
I'd love to hear what you think of this, so please leave a review.