A/N: Who wishes they did, in fact, own Chuck?
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They said goodnight in front of Chuck and Sarah's apartment door. Carina was thrilled that the bad blood between Sarah and Zondra had been sorted out. Laughing to herself, she kissed Chuck on the lips (just to make him squirm), but she gave Sarah and Amy each a kiss on the cheek. Casey peeled off to go to his apartment and Zondra and Amy tarried a bit longer, saying goodnight to Sarah.
Carina wheeled her bag out to Sarah's Porsche thinking about Chuck. She had last seen him at the engagement party, but that had been a purely social event. Tonight was the first time she'd seen him in spy mode since the Alahi business all those months ago. She thought about the reputation this team had developed over the intervening time. Chuck'd impressed her then, but tonight he was different. Easier and more relaxed, but totally in control of the discussion. Not that he was pulling rank or anything, but he was just guiding the conversation. The rest of them, her included, deferred to him. With Alahi, he had been an equal member of the team, respected and valued, although he wasn't a trained spy. What she had seen this evening, though, was that he had grown into the leader of the team. And was soon to be Sarah Walker's husband. She was really looking forward to working with them, with him. And, of course, teasing him as much as she could. He was just so damn cute when he blushed.
Stepping out of the courtyard of Echo Park, she pushed the button on the keychain to start Sarah's car remotely.
There was a brilliant flash of light and a terrifying feeling of searing heat. She had the sensation of flying backwards but her world turned black and silent before she landed.
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Chuck wished Amy and Zondra goodnight and headed back inside to clear up the dinner dishes. Sarah stayed out front for a moment more.
"I can't believe Carina really wants to go out now," said Zondra with a tolerant smile. "She just flew in from halfway around the world."
"Z, come on. It's Carina for goodness sake. Of course, she wants to go out. Her first night in a fresh city. Remember that time in..."
The night was shattered by a huge blast from the street. As Sarah glanced up, she saw Carina flying backward from the force of the detonation to crumple onto the pavement.
Sarah screamed, "CARINA" and took off running towards the street, Amy and Zondra on her heels.
Casey burst out of the door of his apartment a couple of seconds later. Seeing what was happening he began to follow them to the street.
By the time Chuck got to the front door of his apartment, he saw the backs of his team running toward the street and the glow of the fire from the burning car. He saw the unmoving bundle that was Carina lying in the street.
He immediately spun to the left, away from the explosion, and ran to Ellie and Devon's door. Pounding, he yelled, "DEVON, ELLIE. COME OUT. CARINA'S HURT. CARINA'S HURT."
The door flew open. Ellie, who seemed to be wearing only a long tee shirt, looked at him for a moment with shock and concern. Chuck said, urgently, "We need you and Devon now. I think it was a car bomb. Carina's hurt." Only a moment later, Devon ran past them through the door of the apartment at a full sprint. He had a bulky bag in one hand and was wearing a pair of compression shorts and nothing else.
They got to the street and Carina's body. Casey was on the phone calling for emergency services. Sarah's Porsche as burning fiercely with flaming debris and bits of the car littering the roadway.
Devon ran to Carina and dropped the bag, bending to open it. He said, "Sarah, any chance of more explosions? Do we have to move her?" His voice was strong and clipped with the urgency of the situation. He began to pull on plastic gloves he took from the bag at his feet.
"No. No danger of that. It looks like the gas tank was ignited with the initial blast," she said.
"Ok," he said.
Ellie joined him and he handed her a pair of gloves as he dropped to his knees next to the downed spy.
Chuck arrived and put an arm around Sarah. She was shaking as she watched Devon and Ellie work on Carina.
Looking up Devon said, "Lights."
Chuck, Amy, Sarah and Zondra took out their cell phones and trained their flashlights on Carina. Amy started to sob when she saw her friend. Sarah gasped and covered her mouth with her free hand. Zondra maintained a poker face, but her eyes told a different story.
Carina was a wreck. She'd been burned by the blast. The force of the explosion had blown her clothes partially off her and the skin of her face, chest and arms seemed to be singed. She was bleeding from a wound on her scalp and another on her right arm. But it was her legs that looked the worst, mangled and bloody.
Disconnecting from his call, Casey said, "Emergency services is on the way. I'm going to get better lights." He spun and ran back to his apartment.
Devon said to Ellie, "Breathing, but unresponsive."
"Immobilize the neck?" she asked.
"I don't have a brace," he said to her. "Just remember for when EMS arrives. I'm getting a tourniquet on her right leg." Carina had been wearing a skirt, and Devon used a pair of shears to cut it away and throw it aside.
Ellie said, "Give me one. I'll do the left. The bleeding is more severe." Devon handed her a tourniquet from the bag.
While Devon applied a tourniquet to the right leg, Ellie began to work on the left leg. She took the device out of the plastic bag and unraveled it. The bright orange nylon strap went around Carina's leg, just above the knee and the end was fed back through the buckle.
Casey came back with two large handheld spotlights. He handed one to Chuck and lit the one in his hand. Chuck did the same. In an instant the scene was bright as day and the injuries to Carina appeared even more horrific.
Ellie pulled the strap around Carina's thigh as tight as she could, cinching it in the ratchet buckle, watching the bleeding slow.
Devon looked up and said, "Sarah, go get me a bunch of towels soaked in cold water. We have to get some of the heat out of those burns."
Sarah spun on her heel and ran back into her apartment.
Ellie took the stick connected to the tourniquet and began to twist it as a windlass, tightening the strap even more and compressing the blood vessels. The blood flow slowed. She twisted it as much as she could, but couldn't fully stop the bleeding.
Devon was applying a bandage to Carina's head wound. He saw Ellie's difficulty and said, "Use another tourniquet. A second one. Two or three inches above the first." Devon's normal good humor and easy-going personality had given way to a solid commanding professional.
Ellie tied off the tourniquet she'd been using and began to apply a second one she had grabbed from the kit.
Sarah came running back, her arms full of sodden towels. Finished with the head wound, Devon grabbed them and began to cover Carina's upper body to cool the burns.
Ellie had just gotten the bleeding on the left leg to stop entirely when an ambulance roared around the corner with lights flashing and siren blaring. The crew piled out and ran to where Carina lay on the street. If a car bomb in Los Angles gave them a moment's pause, they didn't show it. If two almost naked people working on a casualty was extraordinary, they didn't acknowledge it.
Devon announced his and Ellie's credentials and began to direct the ambulance crew. He was polite and respectful but there was no question that he was in command. Truth be told, everyone at that scene would have followed the directions of the almost naked man on his knees next to Carina.
Just as the crew was applying a neck brace to Carina, the fire department arrived to douse the burning remnants of the Porsche. They put Carina on a gurney and wheeled it over to the ambulance. Devon and Ellie climbed inside with the crew and Carina.
Casey said, "They are taking her to West LA Doctors and Nurses. I called for the IC response, so they are heading there rather than Westside. You guys follow in the Vic. I'll stay here for when the cleaners arrive and meet you at the hospital when I can."
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Carina was in surgery with Devon and some other surgeons in the portion of the hospital reserved for the Intelligence Community. As doctors now affiliated with the IC, both Ellie and Devon had privileges there, but as Ellie was not a surgeon, she was not involved in that procedure.
Chuck, Sarah, Ellie, Amy and Zondra were in the waiting room. Ellie was wearing some borrowed scrubs and sandals. All were upset, but showing it in different ways. Chuck and Sarah were holding hands and talking quietly. Amy had puked up her dinner in the ladies room and was now sitting and crying silently. Zondra was stonefaced and looking out the window at the lights of Los Angeles.
About an hour after they had gotten to the hospital, Casey arrived. He had gone into Devon and Ellie's apartment and brought them a bag with clothes and shoes. He'd also found their car keys and driven their car to the hospital.
Once the team was together, they headed for a SCIF on the ground floor of the hospital. The sensitive compartmented information facility would allow them to talk to the bosses without fear of eavesdropping.
Chuck had alerted Washington to the bombing and they were prepared for the conference call to commence.
The screen on the wall came alive with Graham, Beckman and Malone on split screens.
"Good evening, Directors. Or, actually, good morning where you are," said Chuck.
"How is she?" asked Malone.
"Still in surgery. She was in pretty bad shape when we got her here. My future brother-in-law is one of the surgeons. She's in very good hands."
"Can you tell us anything about the bombing?" asked Graham.
"No, Sir," said Chuck. "We came to the hospital with Carina. We didn't remain at the site to investigate. Sarah hadn't used her car since yesterday; we went to Castle today with Casey this morning. So, it's been parked for about thirty-six hours. No traffic cams on the street and our own surveillance doesn't extend out to the street."
"And you didn't flash on anything, Chuck?" asked Beckman.
"No, Ma'am. We can just thank goodness that the bomber didn't know the car had a remote starter. If Carina, or Sarah and me, or whoever, was inside the car and starting it normally, the results would have been much worse."
"Yes," said Malone.
"We can get the FBI to investigate in the morning," said Beckman.
"I'm not sure that's a great idea, Ma'am," said Chuck.
"Why not?" she asked.
"General, this could be any one of our enemies. Fulcrum. Banacheck. Hell, even Gentle Hand if they heard we were assigned to target Gaez. Are we prepared to share all that information with conventional law enforcement?" he asked.
Graham growled and said, "Yeah. Chuck is right. Better that we try to handle this in house. Get an IC investigation started."
"Thank you, Sir. I think that's the right decision," said Chuck.
"But what if it is Gaez?" asked Sarah.
"Agent Walker?" asked Malone.
"Sir, the last time we went after him he was always a step ahead of us. We came to believe that there was a mole somewhere. The distrust that engendered broke up the unit. What if it is him that attacked us? What if he still has that mole?" asked Sarah.
"Pretty fast work if it's them. You haven't had the assignment even 48 hours yet," said Malone skeptically.
"Yes, Sir. That's true. But it's a possibility that shouldn't be ignored," she said.
"What do you have in mind?" he asked.
"I think this taskforce should go dark. No calling home until we have Gaez in our sights. If Gaez has a mole in the IC, that will blind him or her and eliminate that advantage."
"A sensible plan, Agent Walker," said Graham. Beckman and Malone agreed.
"Alright," said Malone. "Before you get back to Gaez, give us a report on Miller, then go black and find the son of a bitch."
"Yes, Sir," said Sarah.
"Sir," said Chuck. "I mentioned that one of her doctors is my future brother-in-law, Dr. Devon Woodcomb. I'll ask him to keep you up to speed on Agent Miller's condition. With her permission, of course. We can trust that you will let the rest of the IC, like the Administrator of the DEA, know what they need to."
"Thank you, Chuck. I'll take care of that," said Malone. "Good luck and good hunting, team."
The call ended.
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It was almost four AM when Devon came out of the surgery looking serious and tired. He hadn't cleaned up and his borrowed surgical scrubs had Carina's dried blood on them. He came to the assembled group and said, "Hey, guys. Carina is going to live. It was touch and go for a bit, but she's going to pull through."
"Oh, thank god," said Chuck.
Ellie knew something was wrong. "But that's not all?" she asked.
"We couldn't save the left leg. I'm sorry," he said.
Amy started to sob again. Casey said, "Above or below the knee?"
"Below the knee," said Devon.
Casey grunted.
"Oh, God," said Sarah, crying herself. She curled herself into Chuck's arms as he cried his own grief for their friend into her hair.
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About five hours later, they were back in the hospital, waiting for Carina to wake up. Devon said they could see her for a few minutes each, but only one at a time. He warned that she would be a little groggy from the anesthesia, but otherwise unimpaired.
Sarah was chosen to go first. Amy and Casey declined entirely. Casey ostensibly because he didn't consider himself a close enough friend, although Chuck suspected it was because the lady feelings would flow too copiously for Casey's comfort. Amy thought she wouldn't be able to keep from crying her eyes out and didn't want to upset Carina.
Cleaned up now, Devon came out of Carina's room and said to Sarah, "Ok. She's awake and wants to see you."
She said, "How is she?"
Devon raised an eyebrow and said, quietly and with a bit of a grimace, "Not awesome."
Sarah steeled herself. Chuck squeezed her hand and she gave him a little smile of thanks. Taking a deep breath, she entered Carina's room.
The flat of the sheet on the bed where the left leg should have been was the first thing she noticed, but she forced herself to look up quickly to Carina's face. She was bruised and swollen, shiny with whatever ointment had been applied to her burns. Half of her beautiful head of hair had been shaved off, to allow them to stich closed the scalp wound. She was hooked up to an IV and to monitors that displayed the state of her health in sterile glowing numbers.
As Sarah approached Carina looked at her and started to cry. Between the raised railings on the side of the bed and the wires and tubes surrounding Carina, Sarah couldn't get closer than the bedside. Wishing she could hug her instead, Sarah took her hand and held it tight as the other woman shook with her sobs.
Carina said, "My leg...my leg, Sarah. What am I going to do? What am I going to do?"
Tears in her eyes, Sarah said, quietly, "You're going to keep going, Red. You're going to keep going."
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A/N2: In canon the car bomb detonated when Carina unlocked the Porsche. That's the plan of a pretty inept bomber. By definition, the intended victim is outside the car when it blows up if that's the detonation trigger. Here, it's the starter that triggered the detonation. As Chuck said, it's just lucky that the bomber didn't know the car could be started remotely.
A/N3: Tourniquets. They went out of favor after World War II when the time between application and the administration of medical attention was longer. The damage done by the restricted circulation offset the benefits from the control of the bleeding. In the 21st century, when quicker medical attention is available, they are very much encouraged. Emergency responders carry them and even civilians are encouraged to have them at home and in medical kits. In the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan they are credited with saving thousands of lives.
A/N4: I have on my desk at work a paperweight with a quote from Winston Churchill. "If you are going through hell, keep going."
A/N5: I know. Whump. I know. If any of you guys want to flame me, go for it, I guess.