Sometimes you have no choice

Sometimes you've got no voice to say

Say if you will the words

Say if your world is so gray

We can decide this

There'll be no tears

No tragedy

Try–I wouldn't break and cry

If you walk away

And leave me

"Goodbye Is Forever"

Arcadia

October 4, 2021

Bishop, California

Chuck had started pacing again, waiting for Cole to continue what he was doing. Chuck was working the plan over in his head, looking for holes or problems that he may have overlooked.

"Oh…my God," Cole exclaimed, screeching Chuck to a halt with the tone of his voice.

"What now?" Chuck asked in exasperation.

"According to Casey, the DGSE agent that reportedly saved Zondra and Carina…is Jacques Robert," he said, stressing the man's name. "Hannah's husband," he added, sensing Chuck was uncertain.

Chuck paled, blinking rapidly as he processed the information. Faster than Cole gave him credit for, he processed the information. "So a spy, not an asset, like we thought," Chuck said softly.

"A spy who apparently faked his own death," Cole retorted.

"We have to tell Hannah that he's alive!" Chuck shouted, flinching as he realized his volume may have woken his son.

"I don't know if that's wise, Chuck," Cole said sharply. "We have no idea what the real–"

"Look, Hannah's thought he was dead for over two years," Chuck explained with sympathy.

"And never once, in all that time, did he ever try to contact her to let her know. There has to be some reason why…and it might not be good news," Cole replied.

"He's with Sarah and the team! He saved Carina and Zondra!" Chuck argued. "How bad could it be?"

"I know, Chuck. I know you're about at the end of your rope here and you're frazzled, but we can't upset a plan we know nothing about. Just stick to our plan…for now. We contact Hannah, get Beckman's people moving. We get Stephen to Beckman's people, then we get the hell out of here and to England," Cole explained.

Chuck sighed heavily, but nodded his head in agreement.

Cole's face went slack, and he covered his mouth with his hand before he spoke. "You realize for this to work…your son has to believe you're dead. He'll blow your cover with Beckman's people, and we can't ask him to pretend effectively."

"No…no…" It started as a crisp, definitive reply, but petered off to a helpless whimper, as he realized Cole was right. He sank down clumsily into the chair beside the computer. "He was..awake…when we took him in here. What are we gonna do?"

"I'll have to tranq him…before he wakes up. Low dose, not dangerous, I promise," Cole added quickly. "I'll have to tell the agents a slightly different version than what they believe. But this is only temporary, Chuck. I know it's awful, and I'm sorry." He swallowed hard, and stood. "I'll go do it now. We have to move. The clock is ticking."

October 4, 2021

Elevation 30,000 ft, over the English Channel

"Is she going to be a liability?" Jacques asked Carina, leaning towards her ear, as they both peered through the airline seats at Sarah, who sat by herself. It was now just the three of them. After the operation at Graphitech, Ilsa and the group had parted ways. Carina, Sarah, and now Jacques, were due to meet with Colin and Nigel the moment their flight landed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Carina snapped.

"She shot that place to hell…with almost no regard for anything, least of all her safety," Jacques hissed in reply, quietly enough to keep Sarah from hearing.

"She got the device and all of us out of there alive in record time," Carina shot back.

"I'm not arguing with you that she's good. She's perfectly capable, despite your initial worrying that she wasn't field ready. But, for god's sake, she lost her husband and her child!" he hissed again, biting his lip to keep his frustration contained.

"She's CIA trained. Has been since she was 17. She knows what to do, no matter what she may be feeling," Carina argued, realizing she was arguing with herself as well, trying to convince herself that she was right.

"That might be true, in theory, but I know that look. She's freezing over…and I seriously doubt she gives a damn whether she lives or dies. That's a liability, in my book," Jacques argued.

"She has two other children…and her sister who needs saving," Carina added, her voice losing its stridency. "She may have a death wish," Carina added, her voice shaking as the words came out, "but not yet, not completely anyway."

Jacques sighed, leaning away from Carina as Sarah glanced back quickly over her shoulder. Quietly, he added, under his breath, "I'll follow your lead, because you trust her. But if she loses it–"

"She won't," Carina insisted, tamping down the creeping worry that she was going to be proven wrong.

October 4, 2021

Bishop, California

Chuck watched from the doorway as Cole administered the tranquilizer to his son. Stephen shifted ever so slightly, probably detecting the slight pinch of the needle, but he settled back down again. "I'd better carry him, Chuck," Cole said, huffing as he scooped to lift the boy off the bed. "Just remove the potential familiarity there…he might not be able to explain later."

Chuck stepped out of the way as Cole moved, blinking back tears at the thought of the pain he was soon to cause his son, maybe scarring him for life, despite the temporary nature of the situation, at least that was what he hoped. He found his arms aching to hold him, denied for the sake of their plan. He was overwrought, strung out, feeling like he was running out of time…like they were all running out of time. "Let's get this over with," Chuck grumbled as he moved to vacate the cabin.

Cole texted Hannah from his burner phone. Chuck watched the words as he typed them. This is Gretchen. Hoping all is well. Just wanted you to know I have a piece of mail you left. Please call me, so I can meet you to drop it off. Cole looked at Chuck and started to explain. "It's part of the code that I devised with her, so she knows that it's me, without alerting anyone else, including the CIA, that it's me."

Hannah called back about three minutes later. Cole clicked on the speaker phone, motioning for Chuck to stay silent. "Hi, Gretchen, what's up?" Hannah asked, stressing the name ever so slightly, a clue that she was playing along with the ruse. Chuck could tell she was doing her best to disguise it, but the slight tremor in her voice was there just the same.

"Listen to me, Hannah, and try not to react. Did the CIA tell you I was dead?" Cole asked crisply.

"Yes, I did get your message," she said, forcing the casual, making a valiant effort to disguise the trembling. Chuck knew what that meant–Hannah thought all three of them were dead.

"Obviously, I'm alive. But you can't tell anyone but General Beckman that I am. We were ambushed at Chuck's house. I have his son, and he's alive," Cole continued. Chuck heard her gushing breath, obviously relieved. "You need to contact General Beckman. I will send you a link to her secure line. Tell her Operation Eagle is in effect…for Stephen Bartowski, and you need extraction from your security detail to do it. She will give you a set of coordinates and intercept part of your surveillance team. I will meet you at the ones I will send when I hang up and transfer the boy to your custody, where you can rendezvous with her team. Do you understand everything I just said?" he finished sharply.

She paused, absorbing all of his instructions. "Yes, of course," she said, adding a casual lilt to her voice. "But Gretchen…" she added, a sad shudder at the end of her words.

"I did everything I could, Hannah, but I couldn't save them both," Cole said gently. Chuck heard her, the slightest whimper that she gulped down. "The boy…has no idea what happened to his father. He was out cold when it happened and I kept him sedated so I could transport him. I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything else I could do."

"Ok, well, thank you," she said, forcing the cheer. Chuck squeezed his eyes shut, tired of the pain he was inflicting upon everyone else. Cole hung up. Chuck willed the car to move faster, eager to get to Sarah as fast as was humanly possible.

October 4, 2021

Los Angeles, California

Hannah had started counting time the moment she got off the phone with Cole. He assured her they were three hours from her location. She tried to calculate in her head how long all of the steps he had described would take. She couldn't start immediately, there was too wide a gap for waiting. Waiting out in the open with a child whose life she was charged with protecting wouldn't work. She called Beckman on the secure line 90 minutes after the call with Cole had ended.

It had taken longer than she would have liked, and a lot more explanation than she had wished, to inform General Beckman. Surrounded with the details of this complicated operation, Hannah had been a secondary player, and removed from the primary action. General Casey would have been better, but she assumed he was otherwise occupied somewhere. The Operation Eagle reference had focused the conversation drastically, more drastically than she had thought at first thought. Beckman had even asked her to repeat it, word for word, in a sharp and demanding voice.

Beckman was an old soldier. Hannah could tell by her demeanor there was little to no room for emotionality within the operation. She treated everything like a military operation, and perhaps pondered on the emotional consequences separately, at a time that was less crucial to the success of the mission. It made so much sense to her. What left Hannah troubled, as she had signed off on that call, internally proud of herself that she had done exactly what Cole had asked her to do, was the way Beckman had reacted to the confirmation that it was only Stephen. Hannah had somehow confirmed Chuck's death, and it had seemed to shake Beckman, an outwardly unflappable person.

Hannah watched as the detail Beckman promised inserted themselves at the safe house. The transition was smooth, like clockwork. The whole operation seemed convoluted, and she had started to worry. She needed Beckman's detail to leave the safe house. Cole needed to make the transfer of the boy before the new detail took them both to the Project Eagle coordinates. He had assured her it wouldn't be a problem. He would figure out a way to do the transfer safely.

Hannah kissed her children, telling them she had another meeting for work, amazed still that no matter how strange things seemed to get, they were still believing what she was saying about why they were here and what they were doing. Her new detail rang the doorbell and gave her the appropriate code phrase. She texted Cole on the burner phone to let him know they were traveling. He texted back immediately with time to rendezvous. Two minutes.

The vehicle turned from the side street onto the main road, then veered off at the next side street. They pulled into a parking lot. It was adjacent to a preschool, full of cars, but no activity because the school was in session and would be for the near future. Hannah saw the car with its parking lights on, watching as the lights flashed once, then shut off. The cars were parallel when the driver's door swung open. Hannah knew it was Cole, even as he ran, ducking into the back seat and lifting Chuck's son into his arms. She opened the door of her car the moment the automatic locks were released.

Hannah reached for Stephen as Cole slid him forward. The boy snuggled against her, unconscious, but certainly sensing the warmth of her lap and her arms as she held him still. She glimpsed briefly at Cole, seeing evidence of his recent ordeal all over him. His scruffy beard was thickened, unkempt now. He looked thoroughly exhausted, with deep, dark smudges under his eyes. He had blood spatter on his neck, one cheek, and in his hair. The suit he wore was dusty, dirty, and torn in several places.

Just before he turned, Hannah grabbed his hand and squeezed. There was nothing she could say, but those unspoken words flowed through her hand to him, a strong assurance that she would do everything he had asked her to, and keep Chuck's son safe. He nodded his head toward her just once in acknowledgement, then turned and ran back to his car.

XXX

Chuck lifted the blanket from his head as he climbed back into the front seat of Cole's car from the floor. He had stayed down during the transfer, and waited under the blanket until Cole called all clear.

"He's safe, Chuck," Cole assured him. "I just got word from Hannah. Beckman has him in protective custody as we speak." More quietly, he added, "He didn't regain consciousness while he was with her."

Chuck cursed softly under his breath. "So he gets to hear from Beckman that I'm dead," he grumbled.

"Chuck, it's not how you think it's going to be, you know," Cole informed him.

"I hate this!" Chuck screamed, allowing his frustration to vent as his temper flared.

"Beckman cares about your family, Chuck. She's not going to blurt it out to your son like that. I guarantee it." He sighed, quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure how one would even begin to break news like that to a child. But I know she wouldn't do it alone."

It hurt like nothing Chuck could remember, thinking of that interaction. But he had to push it aside, and focus on his next impossible task. "It's a ten hour flight to London, Cole. How much time do we have?"

"We have clearance to leave LAX the moment we arrive, which should be in…approximately 20 minutes. That gives us an hour, give or take, by the time we land," Cole told him.

"Is that enough time?" Chuck asked nervously.

"It's going to have to be," Cole replied. "It's the best we can do."