2022
"Are we seriously calling them the Nine Pirate Lords?" Sarah asked, looking at one of the screens in Castle that held a picture of Leslie, with eight other blacked out images surrounding his. One dark square was labeled as the 'Pirate King' since it was a presentation created by Morgan Grimes and he was rolling with a theme.
Morgan answered with his smile growing in excitement with every word he spoke, "There's nine of them and they each have one of the pieces of eight that could bring about the destruction of the world so, yeah, they're the Nine Pirate Lords."
"Plus, if we play this right, we might be able to get a trip to the Caribbean out of it," Chuck added then leaned toward his friend and whispered, "Let's not say anything about The Brethren Court theories we've been throwing around or you'll completely lose her interest."
"Roger that," Morgan confirmed with a head nod.
"Have we gotten any more intel on the other eight?" Sarah questioned.
"That's a negative. Nothing since the anonymous tip that led us to Leslie-"
Chuck interrupted by snickering at the name again but straightened his face and apologized, "Sorry. But, just so everyone is aware, that's going to happen every single time I hear it."
Sarah grinned at her husband's antics then asked, "What about the key we took off of him?"
"We've had our best analysts at work, trying to decipher it, but nothing other than what you see so far."
A beeping sound alerted them to their regularly scheduled video meeting with the General so they all turned toward the monitor as soon as it switched on.
"Hello, your Generalness," Morgan said in a very clear kiss up tone.
"General," Sarah greeted with a smirk.
Chuck complimented, "General, you're looking regal as always. Have you done something different with your stars?"
"Cut the crap, Bartowski," General John Casey grumbled through the screen. He sat at a large desk, dressed in full uniform and, behind him, his shelf held several pictures; One of Gertrude, one of Ronald Reagan, and one of Alex with her son and daughter while Morgan was weirdly missing (cut out) from the image. "Anything new to report?"
"No, sir," Morgan replied. "But you'll be the first to know when there is."
"Thanks," he said then went to end the call but Chuck sighed loudly. Casey pulled his hand back and glared through the screen. "Something to add, Agent Bartowski?"
"Now that you've asked, yeah." Chuck said. "When are we going to talk about the elephant that's not in the room?"
"Chuck," Sarah warned to keep her husband in check.
"Can't we all agree that this whole General thing has gotten a little ridiculous with the video conference calls? I mean, it's like, 'Pay no attention to the dude who's sitting in another room, ten feet away, pretending he's too cool for a face-to-face meeting'."
After a growl from Casey, he disappeared from view but didn't take long to stomp into the room with everyone else. He reasoned through gritted teeth, "Why would I walk all the way in here for an update that was, literally, no update, when I need every precious second I have in my life to get through the massive pile of paperwork you create for me every time you go out on a mission?"
Certain that he was referring to the sixty-foot luxury yacht that was sunk on their watch, Chuck and Sarah gave each other a guilty stare then both mumbled, "Sorry, Casey."
The vessel was part of their most recent cover. They posed as a wealthy couple in Rio de Janeiro, looking to procure a painting by Johannes Vermeer that was stolen from a Boston museum more than thirty years prior. Chuck campaigned heavily to have access to a boat, in order to create a believable backstory for their cover while, in actuality, his motivation was the simple fact that he just really enjoyed seeing his wife in a bikini...but also because he wanted to wear a captain's hat. Things went wonky, as they often do, and someone brought a missile launcher to a gun fight, thus leading to the complete and total destruction of the yacht...and several of Sarah's bikini's that were still on board. It was a sad day for everyone involved.
Casey cleared his throat and gave them a very clear stare so the couple corrected, "Sorry, General."
"That's more like it. Now, I have work to get back to but I plan to see you all out in the field later today."
"We're all looking forward to you joining us, General," Morgan called to his retreating father-in-law as he returned to his office.
"We're all looking forward to you joining us, General," Chuck mimicked childishly.
Sarah glanced at Morgan and he knew that was his cue to leave the room so he announced, "If you'll both excuse me, I have to go do something...somewhere else."
When he was gone, she walked slowly toward her husband and reminded, "We all knew the sacrifice Casey was making when he took this position."
"But things would have been so much easier if you'd taken it," Chuck replied.
"Two flaws in your logic." She was calm in her response and ran her hands down the front of his shirt. "First, I'm missing quite a few steps in the process of becoming a general. Secondly, but more importantly, my place is, and always will be, by your side." Chuck relaxed and smiled then leaned down to kiss her briefly. When they separated, she pointed out, "This has been hard on him too."
"I know," Chuck grumbled.
"And we don't make it any easier."
"The yacht was probably a bad idea," he admitted.
"So, let's try to be a little better at being understanding of what he's going through right now."
"You're right," Chuck basically mumbled.
"Careful what you start," she warned playfully then clasped her hands behind his neck. "Telling me I'm right and you're wrong is like foreplay at this point in our marriage."
"That's what does it for you nowadays?" he questioned. She laughed softly and nodded in agreement so he continued, "Gone are the days of the Bartowski bedroom eyes, suggestive belly dances, and smoldering looks of longing across a crowded room as they have ushered in a new era consisting solely of, 'I'm sorry, you were right'."
"Oh. Say it again but slower," Sarah jokingly flirted.
They shared one more kiss, then walked hand in hand to the stairs and, as they traveled, Chuck asked, "Would you have thought, fifteen years ago, that you'd be defending John Casey?"
"God, no. But there are a lot of things I do now that Sarah Walker of fifteen years ago never thought she would live to see."
It was an hour later that she and Chuck were running frantically with their hearts pounding with excitement.
"Go, go, go!" Sarah called.
"Keep moving!" Chuck ordered.
Not far from them, and close to panic himself, Casey yelled, "Take the shot, Bartowski! Take the shot!"
A small foot, clad in soccer cleats, kicked the black and white ball to send it rolling across the grass, past the goalie (who was six and made very little effort to stop it), and into the goal.
"GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!" Chuck yelled then ran back down the field, along the sideline to follow Demi after he scored the first point of the game, while Sarah ran with them carrying Olga on her back and laughing with the little girl. "That's my boy!" Chuck declared as he and Sarah returned to the group of parent spectators, beaming with pride.
"Yeah, yeah," Devon placated. "You just give Betty a minute to get warmed up and she'll show you what an Awesome can do."
Elizabeth (Betty) Woodcomb was the third born of Ellie and Devon...their second was Josephine, who was a few months younger than Stevie...their fourth was Betty's "Irish Twin", DJ (which wasn't short for anything, Ellie was just unwilling to name one of their daughters "Devon Junior" so it was part of the compromise. The other part was that her middle name was Honey)...and their fifth, little Charlie, who was a year old and, technically, an accident because, "Nothing can stop an Awesome. Not even birth control." But, if anyone could handle five girls, it was Devon and Ellie.
Morgan was beside them and argued, "I don't know, boys. I think Leia is going to give them all a run for their money and show you what a Grimes can do." He glanced down to where his three-year old son, Luke, sat in the grass and scolded, "Luke, buddy. I told you to stop eating the dirt."
So, you see, The Buy More sponsored team didn't just have Demi Bartowski on it. There was something in the Burbank water the year Sarah became pregnant with her son so not only did she have a baby but so did Ellie, Alex, and K.D. (and that's just to name a few). Their soccer team was a veritable who's who of Bartowski adjacent kids and their parents wouldn't have had it any other way.
K.D., the actual coach of the team, shouted, "Good hustle, Demi!" while little Lester Barnes and Jeffrey Patel sat behind her on the bench, singing 'We Are The Champions' to show their support. They were officially on the team, suited up for every game, and were welcomed and accepted by everyone...they just preferred to avoid the physical exertion aspect of sports and opted, instead, to serve as the morale boosters.
The senior Lester clapped and commended, "Great song choice, guys!" then squirted some water in each of their mouths.
"Hey, Coach," one of the parents who was an outsider to the group complained, "when are you going to put Maya in? She scored more goals than anyone else last season."
Since it was her first year coaching, because it was the first year any of their kids chose to play a sport, K.D. turned to her assistant coach, Stevie, who was holding a clipboard and wearing a team hat. The little girl studied her papers then looked up at her aunt and shook her head to disagree with the statistic.
"My own kid isn't even playing right now," K.D. pointed out. "The game just started. Everyone will get a turn." When she could feel young Jeff and Lester's panic, she turned around and corrected, "Everyone who wants a turn will play."
"And everyone will get a trophy too," Casey grumbled.
2013
Her sister was...dating(?)...Jeff and/or Lester. Sarah wasn't exactly sure what was going on and she was almost afraid to ask whenever K.D. would disappear with the one or both of the men. She also preferred to not think about it because her sister's dating life was shaping up to be her only real stressor...and that was factoring in numerous hand-to-hand combat situations, a few knife fights, exchanged gunfire, and the quelling of a coup.
Throughout her pregnancy, several members of Team Bartowski (to include General Beckman and even Verbanski) tried to talk Sarah into staying home but she was always quick to remind them of the agreement reached by everyone when she first announced her pregnancy; she would stop going on missions once she proved to be a hinderance...however, Sarah Bartowski not only failed to be a hinderance while pregnant but she darn near carried the team through multiple scrapes (literally if you count the time she dragged Gertrude out of a building before it exploded). The team wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy hormones, or just the knowledge that she had more riding on each mission, but that woman became seemingly invincible while carrying a tiny human inside of her. Casey was the only one who agreed she was fit for duty and reminded everyone of her "Giant, blonde, she-male" time in Thailand, arguing that she was unstoppable when properly motivated and more than a little scary.
She was a few weeks from her due date when the team was called to report to Castle immediately. Chuck urged her to sit this one out but it marked her first utterance of, "One last mission before the baby is born."
General Beckman appeared on the screen and didn't waste any time before notifying, "We've just received intel that a small faction of The Ring still has a base in Beijing that could be a potential recruitment center. I need you all to go there and stomp them out, once and for all, before they start rebuilding."
"Yes, General," was the resounding response from everyone, simultaneously, and they all looked to Morgan who had also answered.
"Sorry," he said awkwardly. "Force of habit from a time in my life when I was able to suit up and help save the world."
"You still help save the world, Morgan," Chuck encouraged. "Do you think we could do what we do out there without you in here, doing what you do?"
"Yes," and "Absolutely," were the answers from Casey and Gertrude as they packed their things in the armory.
"We appreciate everything you do for us, Morgan," Sarah agreed but Chuck gave her an expectant look, silently asking her to elaborate in order to help build Morgan's confidence. She picked up on it and said, "Oh. More? Okay," then added, "I can't speak for anyone else, but my job got a lot easier once you started guiding our missions...and the Pump-Up Mixes you play when we encounter the need to fight are very...motivating. I don't know why no one else ever thought of it before."
"Right?" Morgan asked. "How many other spies get to hear 'Kung Fu Fighting' while actually Kung Fu fighting?"
"Not enough, that's for sure," she agreed then shared a look with Chuck, begging to be done without actually using words.
He nodded then jerked his head in the direction of the armory, signaling for her to get ready as well then told Morgan, "We need you here, buddy. Our missions would not run the same without you."
"Because they'd run smoother," Casey mumbled quietly.
The taking of the Ring base initially felt a little anti-climactic. They only had two guards at the door and a total of three agents sitting in a control room, watching the wall of screens in front of them. Verbanski handled the distraction to get them through the door since Sarah felt it was too weird for her to flirt with the two men at the security desk given her condition. The seduction of anyone other than her husband was the one chink in the armor of a pregnant Sarah Bartowski.
Focused on each of their individual jobs once they contained the three agents, Sarah and Gertrude stood watch while Chuck connected to their server using the laptop he carried, then reported, "I've copied all their files."
And a few seconds later, Casey notified, "Self-destruct is counting down. Let's get out of here."
Glancing around, the screens caught Sarah's attention and she abandoned her post at the door to gravitate toward them. "Chuck," she called with her face falling in alarm as she stared at the monitors. "This isn't a recruitment center. It's a holding facility." Chuck rushed to his wife's side. "Those are cells with people in them." While they couldn't see the faces clearly, due to the grainy video feed, there was no denying they were prisoners.
Chuck shot a hopeful stare to Casey and asked, "Do we have time?"
Confused, the Colonel replied, "Would you not go if I said you didn't?"
"Good point."
The group ran through the halls, seemingly in slow motion, as they made turn for turn to get to the part of the building where the cells were located, all the while a clock counted down the minutes until imminent destruction. Finally, they reached the underground prison and Chuck hacked into the main control panel in order to open all the doors at the same time.
When nothing happened, and no one stepped out for fear that it was a trick to give them a false sense of hope before seeing a firing squad, Casey called, "Let's move! This place is going to blow!"
Then, slowly, one after another, people started stepping out of the cells, all wearing grey inmate uniforms and more than a little apprehensive about their rescue.
Seeing everything they could see, Morgan spoke over the comms, "Is that..."
As they stared in shock and disbelief at the scene in front of them, Chuck found the ability to start to mutter, "Holy Sh-"
"Chuck," Sarah announced. While she was just as taken aback by the magnitude of the situation, she had a more pressing issue. "My water just broke."