Thank you to everyone for waiting! Here's the next chapter, enjoy! Leave me a fav/follow/review!
Sarah and Casey entered Castle. Walker sighed with relief as she embraced the feeling of sanctuary. John immediately gravitated towards the monitors, checking the camera feeds and security systems.
"Anything?" Walker asked.
"Nothing notable," he huffed.
Sarah stood up, but a feeling of exhaustion suddenly overtook her. Her adrenaline was starting to fade. She and Casey practically ran all the way to their safe house to avoid enemy fire. She felt light-headed, but she shook it off. Casey noticed her troubles.
"Are you okay, Walker?"
"Yeah, yeah," she gulped with uncertainty. Sarah didn't sound so convincing.
"Go clean up," Casey grunited, "I need you at full strength if we're going to go through with this mission."
Sarah looked down at her appearance. She was dirty and scuffed, her clothes were torn, and plaster dust coated her skin.
"Casey, who do you think ordered that shooting?" Walker asked, "The CIA?"
"That's definitely a possibility."
"Beckman, or ex-CIA?"
"Ex-CIA don't have that type of pull. It would have to be from an existing officer."
"Or it wasn't CIA at all?" Sarah offered.
"That's also a definite possibility."
"I hope Ellie and Devon are alright," she wrung her hands, "this one is going to be hard to explain…"
"We get Chuck back and the explaining will hardly be tough after that. They'll thank us."
"You forget they don't realize Chuck is gone. Devon and Ellie think he's doing an install out of town, and the Buy More staff think he has a bad case of the flu."
"Let them think that," Casey still stared at the monitor, "I backed up the files from my harddrive at home and sent them here. It includes the address of Josh Martin."
"One of Jones' men, right?" Sarah walked behind Casey and stared at the screen, "he lives in South County, you said?"
"Right," John nodded with a plotting smirk, "let's get suited up, Walker. Now we pay him a visit."
"Be careful what you say," she huffed, "last time we said that, bullets started flying through the sky."
"Better than what Bartowski must be going through now," he grunted.
Immediately, Sarah's face fell.
"Walker?" Casey raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, John," she tried shaking her head to clear her thoughts, "I forgot about Chuck's condition for a brief moment after the shootout…."
"Walker, keep your chin up."
"Casey...what if Chuck is...you know-"
"Stop."
"But-"
"Enough, Sarah."
She looked up. John didn't call her by her first name often.
"Bartowski is tougher than you think," he reassured, "he's holding out. Worrying about him isn't going to bring him back, it's just going to hinder your performance. Emotions dilute our logic, you have to keep them in check. We're about to cross enemy territory."
"How do you do it, John? How do you just block out your emotions?"
"I left a good future behind me when I took this job, Walker," Casey explained, "I knew that I was sacrificing a fine life for one that wasn't as fulfilling. I've done my duty for my country. That's all I need to think about when I need a reminder."
She nodded, feeling some of the strength return to her muscles and some courage build up inside her.
"You're right," she dipped her head, surprised that John Casey could actually be helpful when it came to her feelings, "Thank you, John."
He rolled his eyes, but she thought she saw a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"Come on," Sarah brightened, "Josh Martin awaits."
Four agents came entering the room, they were Jones' men. The ones that helped with his abduction. They wore similar black gear as their leader. No smiles, no emotions.
"Look, guys," Chuck spoke rapidly, "I-I don't want any trouble, okay? Just let me go, you don't have to listen to Agent Jones there. This is all a big understanding, I just work at a Buy More-"
"Shut up!" one of them growled. Something hard painfully collided with the back of Chuck's skull. He shouted in agony and saw white spots dance across his vision.
I just suffered a head injury right before a brain surgery? Terrific.
There was no way he was coming out of this alive.
Something trickled down Chuck's neck as he kept trying to recollect his bearings from the blow. Two arms dragged him out of the chair. His listless legs slid across the tiles, as he didn't have the coherency yet to make them function properly.
"You hit him quite hard, Dan," one of the voices spoke, but it sounded distant and distorted, "he okay?"
"Of course, he's fine!"
"Oh, man, he's bleeding from the back of the head!"
Someone cursed above him. Chuck's head lolled against his chest as they men propped him up against the wall. Bartowski's tired eyes remained closed.
"It wasn't that hard!"
"The guy is about have a procedure, why did you do that?!"
"Here, let me see if he's conscious."
Someone knelt down in front of Chuck and tapped his shoulder roughly, "Hey, hey? Buddy, you okay?
He was motionless.
"Ah, no! Somebody call Seeley!"
"Come on, Dan!"
"Tommy and I will take him to his cell, come on! Grab his arms!"
Chuck felt two pairs of strong hands grab his arms. He started to be dragged across the floor, his legs in front of him, as the two ex-CIA agents navigated down the halls.
Left. Right. Right. Left. Long hallway. Left.
His handlers stopped abruptly and placed him against the wall.
"Watch him. I'll open the door."
Chuck heard the sound of a keypad beeping. The presence of a tall figure loomed above him.
"I can't believe Dan could be that stupid. Injuring the asset right before the procedure? Idiot."
"Seeley is going to be pissed…"
"I'll have Dan deal with that. I ain't taking the fall for that one."
Silence.
"Is he still out?"
The tall figure in front of him knelt down and patted his cheeks a few times.
"Yup, still out."
"Jesus, how hard did he hit him?"
"I don't know, but could you hurry it up? How long does it take to open a damn door?"
"I'm trying, okay? The knob won't turn right!"
"Are you kidding me? Move over, I'll do it!"
"No, I got it!"
Now! Chuck shouted in his brain. His eyes shot open and he bolted upright. He found his legs beneath him and started sprinting down the hallway.
"Hey! He's getting away! After him!"
"Calling all units! Calling all units! Asset is on the loose, asset is one the loose!"
Thankfully, Chuck had long legs. He wasn't wearing his sneakers anymore, but some weird, gripless shoe, like the ones they gave patients at mental facilities. Chuck wasn't particularly good at anything, but pretending to be passed out was something he mastered over the years with Casey and Sarah. He couldn't fight or defend himself, this was the next best thing.
Left. Right. Right. Left. Long hallway. Left.
He recited it in his head like a mantra. Casey and Sarah had to be on their way. He didn't know how long it had been since he was taken, but his handlers were capable of finding him. All he had to do was keep running until he could find a quiet place to hide. When his handlers came to rescue him, he'd reveal himself.
"You got this, Chuck," he muttered to himself as he continued to run down the white, pale hallways. But, the light was stinging his eyes. Certain objects were starting to blur, and he could feel himself stumble from time to time.
He reached a hand back and felt his hair. His fingers came away wet with blood.
Oh, no….
He didn't do well with blood.
"Okay, Chuck, okay," he started to pant, "keep your cool, keep running. Find a place to hide-"
Something came barreling at him from the side.
Chuck felt himself go crashing to the floor. He painfully collided with the ground on his right side. It was like being hit by a dump truck.
He groaned as he tried to orientate himself. Through his swimming vision, Chuck saw a certain ex-CIA agent tower over him. Seeley Jones looked down at him predatorially, like he was an injured deer in the hands of a mountain lion.
"Tsk, tsk, Chuck," Seeley wasn't even so much as panting, "cute trick you played on my men back there."
"Thank you," Chuck groaned.
"Now," he felt one of Seeley's gloved hands grab his right ankle, "maybe I should break one of your legs? Stop you from running away again?"
"Please don't," Chuck's eyes widened. He was completely at the mercy of this deranged man.
"Are you going to play dead again?"
Chuck shook his head quickly.
"Good. The doctor is waiting."
Seeley took a step forward. He was standing right above him, his steel-toed boot perched right next to his forehead. Jones lifted the heavy shoe, ready to bring it crashing down against Chuck's head.
"Whoa! Whoa! Wait! Didn't-didn't your guys say I was going for a procedure! You'll injure my head, right? You can't do that!"
Seeley looked down at Chuck with a maniacal smile.
"Eh, what the hell. It's not like you're going to survive the procedure anyway."
The black sole of the boot came rushing towards his forehead.
Chuck was out like a light.
Chapter 7 coming soon!