Don't own Chuck

Mary hung around in the shadows close enough to hear but far enough away not to be seen. She listened in on Frank's talk and heard about the interrogator coming in for the General. She knew then she had to intercept the Tooth Fairy but she wouldn't be able to once she got into camp. If for no reason other than the plan was to load up the sub immediately then put out to sea and that was something Mary couldn't let happen. So the real questions were actually two, how could she get out of Camp? Then once she was out of Camp how would she intercept the Tooth Fairy.

The how to get out seemed to be taken care of for her when a truck pulled out of the hangar towing the other one she had sabotaged. They needed it to continue moving aircraft parts so it was being sent to a mechanic for repair. They didn't want to run any risks by having the mechanic come to the compound so it was decided to take it to him.

"This is a good spot," said Mary to herself then as the truck passed by it had to slow down because of ruts in the road. This was her window of opportunity and she used it by jumping in the back of the towed vehicle. She dove in and pulled the tarp cover down behind her.

"Crap," she whispered to herself when the truck slowed then stopped at the gate. Her first thoughts were that someone had seen her jump in so she pulled her Beretta and held it by her side waiting to see if anyone was going to raise the cover that hung over the back. She moved over to the side where she could hear better.

"That's right bring back seven six inch subs: two sweet onion chicken teriyaki, one black forest ham and roast beef melt, one turkey breast, black forest ham, bacon and cheese and three buffalo chicken all on whole wheat." The driver was being sent on a Subway run too. In a few minutes she felt the truck start to move again and soon they were outside the compound on the road heading towards Hill Cove.

"Okay now to figure out when to jump," she said to herself as she counted off in her head. Just outside Hill Cove she jumped. She hit the gravel hard rolling in a ball then she scramble off to the side of the road as fast as she could before the driver looked back in his mirror. Once he was gone and she was sure she hadn't been spotted she began to walk the road looking for a place she could set up to take the Tooth Fairy out and just maybe she'd be able to take her place or at least that was her plan to continue to chip away at Frank's operation until help could come.

"You need to find some shelter," she said as the sky started to cloud up. A storm was brewing and she wasn't dressed for foul weather. She had planned on being in Costa Gravas now and the light clothes she had on under the coveralls she had taken weren't enough. Adrenaline had kept her going she had felt impervious to the weather but now that she had to wait all that was going away and she was starting to shiver.

Not far from the road she found a shepherd's shelter built out of stacked rock, the only building material readily available on the island. Shepherds built shelters along the paths they grazed their flocks in case of inclement weather so they'd have some place to herd their flocks in for safety until the storm passed by. The shelter was good because it also offered a vantage point to cover the road back to the compound.

"Now Mary you need a fire," she said to herself. She gathered the only fuel she could find to start a fire, dried sheep dung. She mix it with the dried straw in the shelter then used the pocket knife she got off the Russian and a piece of flint some shepherd had left behind and in a little while she had a fire going. She intentionally kept the flames low; it provided just enough to warm the shelter. Her efforts paid off when the rain began to fall quickly changing into snow. This took care of her next need, water.

She sat near enough to the fire where she could feel its warmth but also far enough where she could see the road below. It was times like these that she thought about Chuck and Ellie the most along with the choices she had made that got her where she was now. She pulled out photos she carried of them as kids and looked at them.

"Ellie, your father would be proud of you," she said to the photo. "Your love for medicine and neurology you got that from him. I'm glad you took after Stephen." She said as she switched photos to Chuck's

"Charles, my poor Chuck this isn't the life we wanted for you. Sometimes I wished you were more like your sister. Why did you have to take after me? I love you but I worry about you and I worry about Sarah too. Don't make our mistakes." The wind began to howl but she couldn't hear it over the roar of her stomach. She was hungry but she'd have to wait until morning and daylight to see if she could find some road kill.

"Gives 'take out' a whole new meaning," she said to herself as she put the photos away.

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Chuck took Casey and Silvia back to the vault and there he logged into Langley satcon linking Langley with Fort Meade using both satellite controls. He had an idea and before he ran it up the flagpole he wanted to make sure he had his ducks in a row. If he was right there was a risk and a very good one the JCOS would issue orders to terminate with extreme prejudice the General, and Mary as collateral too. This was the protocol that was already in place for a situation like this. The acting Director could not fall in enemy hands.

"Silva, how fast did you say the Hypersonic was traveling when you passed the control over to your southern operator?"

"I don't know exactly but the order was for them to maintain their current course and speed. So I would guess that would be Mach 5.5, why?

"It gives me an idea of a search radius. There are only a few places Hydra could construct a landing strip that the Hypersonic could use. You said they took over fifteen minutes after they passed you?"

"Yes that's right," she said as Chuck brought up a map on the monitor then calculated the distance the Hypersonic would travel in the fifteen minutes past Costa Gravas then added another fifteen for deceleration.

"Chuck, you don't think they flew it to the Antarctic like Turrini?" said Casey seeing his calculations put it dead center of a possible landing area. "That would be a bear putting down there."

"Yes it would and no I don't think they're there for a number of reasons. The main one being that they had to land the plane remotely like a remote controlled plane. That would require some sort of command structure with buildings along with other structures all of which emit heat signals that would be impossible to mask. I've scanned using the IR band from our spy Sat and nothing so no we need to look some place between."

"What about here," said Casey as he got up close to the monitor. "This part of Patagonia is pretty remote and isolated."

"Yes it is but I don't think they'd use the Tierra de fuego because there's really no place to build anything without being seen. It is remote but the parts that are really remote are unsuitable for this type of construction so that leaves…"

"That leaves nothing," said Casey as Silvia agreed with him nodding her head. "You've just eliminated everything."

'"Well maybe not wait let me try something," said Chuck. He began typing on the keyboard and the face templet on the map changed. Silvia and Casey watched him as he worked then Casey received a call from the Major asking them to make contact.

"Chuck, can you go to a half screen? Langley wants to talk to us," said Casey as he held his phone in front of him to read. When the Piranha took over it was the only way to break his concentration.

"Okay but I don't think it will be something I want to hear," said Chuck as he brought up the Major talking from the situation room.

"Agents, our search for the Atlantic was fruitless…" Chuck cut the Major off then brought him up to date. "Chuck, if I take this to the JCOS you know what protocols call for?"

"I know about Omega protocols but we're not there yet. I can still save them," said Chuck as he got a hit. "Major I found them. I was looking for low levels of radiation and I found the missing Russian sub…"

"Agent Carmichael just because you found the Russian sub in the North Sea doesn't help us find the General and you mother... But it will free up assets..."

"Major as I was saying I found the submarine in Byron Sound in the Falklands which is in the vicinity where the Hypersonic went missing and if you look at Sat photos a landing strip type construction had been added to this old whaling station. There's even a shed that could be used as a hangar and I've got a number of thermal readings. There are a number of people down there."

"Agent Carmichael, I'm going to have to notify General Thomas about your findings. Once he hears this he'll have no choice but to instigate Omega protocols. I'm sorry I obliged to inform him." Casey looked at Chuck he had an idea what was going on but stayed quiet.

"Sister you need to come with me," said Casey as he pulled her out. "Chuck, if what's about to go down goes down, you and the General won't want any witnesses especially civilian ones."

"Yes you're right," said Chuck. "Major it's my mother who's with the General so I'd like to be the one to talk to the Chairman of the JOCs."

"This isn't the prescribed protocol Chuck. But to hell with it if he instigates Omega I'll be looking for another job so who cares. Hold the line and I'll patch you through," said the Major. As Chuck waited Casey took Silvia out leaving him along. He played with the satellite controls as his wait seemed to take forever. He zoomed in on the compound to get a better look. It was an old whaling station that on paper should've been closed for years yet there was activity going on. The radiation signal he had been tracking was coming for an object under a large camouflage net.

"Agent Carmichael... Chuck, the Major tells me there's a break and that you've found both Diane and the missing Russian submarine."

"Yes Sir but before we need to discuss Omega protocols," said Chuck. The General's smile vanished and his physical appearance darkened.

"Is it that bad?"

"I'm afraid so but I need a little time."

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Sarah and Ellie brought back their two sick children. Ellie took Clara into their bedroom and tucked her in while Sarah did the Sam with Sam. Both were remarkable better by the time they got into bed having relieved themselves of excess amounts of sweets. Sarah sat on Sam's bed holding her little hand and brushing back her hair which generated a smile from Sam.

"How do you feel," asked Sarah. She bent down and kissed Sam on the forehead. "You look better. You know little stomachs will hold only a little maybe next time you'll listen to your aunt?"

"Did you have an aunt when you were little who told you not to eat ice cream?" asked Sam as she yawned looking up at her with sleepy eyes.

"No, I only had your grandfather Jack most of the time when he wasn't away or my grandmother. My granny didn't like for me to eat ice cream. She said it would ruin my appetite and my teeth. She was right about the appetite."

"But you still ate ice cream right?" asked Sam. Sarah hardly ever talked about her grandmother or when she was little so Sam was curious. "You never got sick eating too much like me and Clara, did you?"

"First its Clara and me not me and Clara and Jack used to buy it for me especially after... well work. There were quite a few times I went home to Granny's with a stomach ache but I couldn't let her know. If I did she wouldn't let me go out with Jack again so I had to pretend I was okay even when I wasn't."

"You had a job and worked at my age? Were you like the poor children I see on television? Did you have shoes? What kind of work did you do?"

"Yes I had shoes and no it was nothing like that. My father, your grandfather, used to entertain people and they gave him donations. My job wasn't a real job… you could say I just helped him do his and people gave him things."

"What kind of things?" asked Sam as she yawned fighting back the sleep. "Clara and I did that this evening. We tried making sad faces and people kept giving us ice cream. It was fun up until we got sick but we just pretended to be sad and…."

"I don't want you to ever do that again. You can't go around tricking people. It's not nice and I don't want you to. Sam I'm disappointed in you and Clara. I expected better..." Sarah stopped herself she saw the tears in Sam's eyes. It was a knee jerk reaction and she felt sorry she'd gone off but she didn't want Sam to end up like her.

"I'm sorry," said Sam. This was the first time Sarah had ever been cross with her and it hurt. "I promise we won't ever do it again."

"I know you won't," said Sarah as she gave her another kiss. "Because you're a good little girl and we love you very much. I'm sorry if I got mad but you're not going to stay little forever and you need to know right from wrong."

"Maybe I can help you and daddy like you helped your Dad," said Sam as she closed her eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.

Sarah looked at her watch and wondered where Chuck was. She knew she was supposed to go down to the vault but Sam took priority. She thought for sure he would've been done by now. Getting up she left a nightlight on then walked out to the living area. There she found Casey walking around the room and Silvia sitting on their sofa.

"Good you're here," Silvia said. "Maybe we can talk about sleeping arrangements. I'm a little bushed so I'd like to turn in."

"What the… No way is she staying here," said Sarah as Casey motioned for her to keep her voice down. Ellie and company were asleep in their room. "John, why did you bring her here?"

"I'm not tickled by it either but we've got to protect her until Langley can arrange transportation to a safe site."

"I was thinking more about a dark site and some extreme rendition. So we're stuck with prisoner protection until we're relieved. Where's Chuck? Is he still working in the vault?"

"I left him in the vault waiting to talk with the Chairman of the JCOS. I just hope he doesn't piss off General Thomas too much. He found the Russian submarine and the base where he thinks they're holding Beckman and Mary…"

"Mary, as our mother Mary," said Ellie as she walked out from their room. "Our mother is being held prisoner somewhere and you guys knew about it. None of you thought to tell me? Didn't you think I might want to know?"

"Ellie, there's nothing you can do and Chuck didn't want to worry you. We're handling it so let us take care of this I'm sure Chuck has a plan."

"But why does it always have to be you? Doesn't the CIA have other agents? Why don't they call on the Army or the Navy… the SEALs or Special Forces? Why does it always have to be my brother and you Sarah risking your lives?... Oh Sarah you can't go not this time."

"Ellie, don't worry you'll be safe here inside the Embassy. The Marines and the RSO will protect you guys. But if the team goes I'm a part of the team which means I have to go too."

"No you don't understand I know all that and well... I'm not worried about me… remember we talked about this about taking... about you taking risks that you'd regret later," said Ellie as Sarah gave her a puzzled look. "Remember we have to do that second blood test."

"'Oh…. Oh you're right we did," said Sarah as she thought. "Crap... But I wouldn't be doing anything that could be detrimental. I don't think…"

"Sarah, as your partner and senior member of the team I'm telling... no I'm ordering you to officially sitting this one out. I'll tell Chuck you need to stay behind to watch miss personality here. Just don't shoot her."

"I can't promise anything especially if she shoots her mouth off."

"You know I'm right here."

"Well nothing says she can't be turned over a little dinged up. Who knows in the end you two might even end up pals," said Casey. All three women gave him a look. "Okay, okay you can take my bed I'll take..." As they were talking Chuck flew into the room. He was taken aback when he saw Ellie standing there and the look on her face said she knew.

"Chuck, you should've told me about our mother. We didn't used to keep secrets from each other. I can understand your job but this is our mother we're talking about."

"I'm sorry Ellie but this is much bigger than our personal family drama. Casey, get your go-bag we're heading out for the airport. The Premier is going to visit the governor of the Falklands. Then he's going to visit the President of Argentina to try and negotiate a letter of understanding. But what's really going to happen is you and I are going to parachute near Byron Sound to take a closer look at that base. I'll explain more when were in the air. Our mission is to locate and secure the General at all cost."

"And our mother Chuck. Tell me you're going to save our mother too? Chuck we still have a lot of time to make up for."

"I know and of course I haven't forgotten about her but the primary target is the General," said Chuck. "We've got forty-eight hours to pull this off in that was all General Thomas would give me."

"I don't like the sound of that it sounds so... ominous," said Ellie. "Can someone tell me what happens after forty-eight hours?"

"The Omega protocol," said Silvia. Chuck gave her a look. He didn't need for Silvia to agitate Ellie any more than she already was.

"Chuck, you told John to grab his bag what about me? What am I supposed to do? I can jump the same as he can." Ellie pretend coughed to remind Sarah about their talk before.

"I know you can but I need you here with Silvia. I need you two to try and connect to that Hydra host satellite. I might need it but I can't stay here and try to do it myself. I just don't have the time. I don't like leaving you behind but between the two of you I'm sure you can do it. I have faith in you," said Chuck as he kissed her.

"Yuck I think I'm going to be sick. Chuck so it's just the two of us invited to this party or do we have back up coming?"

"In a way the USS Alexandria was sent orders to leave the North Sea and head for the Falklands covertly. She's supposed to block the sound and make sure nothing gets past her. That's our forty-eight hour window. Her transit time then she'll eliminate the base and everyone in it with Tomahawks cruise missiles and the submarine if it is still on the surface or torpedo it if she dives."

"But Chuck what if they take the General and Mom on the submarine as hostages?"

"The omega protocol takes precedence. The Director is to be eliminated if he or she is in danger of being compromised."

"Chuck, this is our mother we're talking about," said Ellie. She wanted to understand but she just couldn't. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to her mother again.

"John, get your bag and gear together. Silvia go with him you can take his room. Ellie, please go back to sleep or at least try."

"Chuck, promise me you'll try and get Marcus out. I owe him," said Silvia as she left with Casey. Ellie just looked back at him then turned to go back to her room.

"Don't worry about Ellie this is just a shock to her. She doesn't mean anything by it. Sweetie, please be careful."

"Ellie should be angry with me and you should too," said Chuck as he held her. "The Omega Protocol... I invoked it. The General wanted to send Special Forces out of Fort Bragg but I argued against it. If Hydra has Satellites, a constellation then they'll see us coming before we get there and pack everything and everyone on that sub and go. If they take off on that sub we may never see them again."

"Chuck, you made the right decision," said Sarah as she hugged him. "But sweetie right doesn't always make it easy. Come back to me we've something to discuss."

"Yuck," said Casey as he came out. "You two never give it a break do you? Come on we've got your mother and the General to rescue. My friend heir Sig wants to have a chat with Frank."