Chuck vs. the Seventh Day, Chapter 9
CAST (in order of appearance):
Lt. Colonel John Casey - Adam Baldwin
Chuck Bartowski - Zachary Levi
Sarah Walker Bartowski - Yvonne Strahovski
Devon Woodcomb - Ryan McPartlin
Ellie Bartowski Woodcomb - Sarah Lancaster
Morgan Grimes - Joshua Gomez
Captain Will Williamson - Alex O'Loughlin
11:10 AM, February 16th, 2012
The corner of La Jolla Shores Dr. & La Jolla Farms Rd.
Just off of Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, California
Team Chuck & Family had spent about half an hour figuring out the plan of attack.
"We've got probably an hour before the NSA figures out that the call to Senator Graham's secure phone came from here and lands a strike team in the front yard," Casey informed them, as he cracked open a taped cardboard box. It was filled with what looked for all the world like crappy old cell phones.
"Place these throughout the house," he instructed everybody, tossing them around the room. "Once you've put them somewhere, turn them on."
He didn't tell anybody what they were, but Chuck and Sarah recognized them immediately – NSA Incinerators. They both looked at him – "Nobody's taking my safe house," he growled.
At 11:15 AM, the Mystery Machine was packed, and Team Chuck headed out. Their first stop was the Buy More down in Mission Valley.
"Alright, so you all understand the plan, right?" Casey asked Devin, Ellie, and Morgan.
"We got it," Devin replied. "We're headed to Ensenada. You've got a safe house there, and the GPS on Morgan's laptop will give us exact directions."
"Sounds about right," Casey replied.
Chuck got out of the van, and put his hands on the sill of the shotgun window, looking in at his sister. "Ellie, take good care of my kids. Please."
"I will, Chuck," she said, smiling sadly. "Just make sure you come back for them, okay?"
Chuck felt rather than saw Sarah join him, looking in at Ellie. "We will," Sarah said quietly. "We'll definitely be back."
Chuck looked back in the door of the van. He climbed back in quickly. "Bye bye, kids," he said, kissing John and Lisa both.
"Dada bye bye!" John said, a smile on his face, waving at Chuck, but Lisa had a different reaction.
"No, Dada, Ful-cum!" she wailed, a terrified look on her face. The tone in her voice, the knowledge that in her fifteen month old brain, she knew exactly what was going on, broke Chuck's heart. He knelt on the floor of the van, unbuckled her carseat, and embraced his daughter.
"Ful-cum," she sniffled. "No Dada bye bye."
"I'll be okay, Lisa. I'll be back." She didn't look happy, but she stopped crying as he buckled her back into the carseat, and backed out of the van.
"Bye bye Unc Uck!" Katie said, as he slid the door shut. Chuck returned to his sister's window.
"Take care of yourself, Chuck," she said softly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Those kids need you."
Devin leaned across, reaching his hand out to Chuck. Chuck grabbed it, and Devin shook it firmly. "Good luck, Chuck," he said, seriously. "Make it awesome."
Morgan popped up between the seats. "Stay safe, buddy," he said. "I've got to have somebody to come back and yell at me when I let your kids watch inappropriate British TV."
Chuck laughed, but it sounded hollow. He tried to say something, but found that his voice just wouldn't work. He nodded, and waved at them, backing away from the van. Devin put the Mystery Machine into gear, and pulled away.
Sarah leaned into him. He embraced her – and without warning, she started to cry. Great heaving sobs racked her body for a minute or so, but she calmed quickly. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Chuck.
"They'll be fine," she said, a fresh note of confidence in her voice. "And so will we."
Chuck felt Casey's hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Bartowski," the NSA agent said. "We've got a Herder to steal."
Quickly crossing the parking lot, they headed for the row of red and white Toyota Yarises parked in front of the Buy More. Chuck hadn't been inside of one of them in a couple of years.
"Are we really stealing it, though?" he asked. "After all, Casey, you ARE the GM of a Buy More… technically, you're just using a company car."
Sarah looked at him, amusement on her face. "Pretty sure we're taking it, without permission, for somewhat nefarious purposes," she said, working a lock pick on the passenger door. "Sounds like stealing it to me."
The shotgun door popped open, and she hit the unlock button. Pushing the seat forward, she climbed in the back seat, letting Casey get in the shotgun seat and Chuck in the driver's seat.
"Why am I driving again?" Chuck asked.
"Because we're letting Walker out in twenty minutes and because I hate driving these things," Casey informed him, sitting a series of buttons on the CD player. The passenger side dash unfolded, revealing the controls that had been built into the Herders by Lazslo the boy wonder.
The first thing Casey did was forcibly remove the GPS unit, open the door, and drop it in the parking lot. "As far as the NSA's concerned, this Herder isn't going anywhere," Casey said. Then he hit a button, and the Herder started. Casey hit another button, and the controls folded back into the dash.
"Drive on, Charles," Casey said, as if Chuck was his chauffeur.
Chuck pulled the Herder out of the Buy More parking lot onto Mission Valley Road. Taking a left, he headed up to the 805 freeway. He jumped onto the 805 northbound for seven miles, exiting at Miramar Road and heading east.
He took Miramar for four miles, turning right into the main gate. A pair of Marines holding M-16s blocked the Herder's path.
Chuck rolled down the driver's window, and Sarah leaned forward from the back seat. "National Command Authority," she said, holding up an ID card that Chuck had never seen before.
The Marines had clearly seen it in some form before, though, as they backed away from the car, waving them through. "That's a new one for me," Chuck said, as he negotiated the veritable obstacle course of K-rails that the Marines had erected to keep crazies from simply driving into the base.
The card was black, with an off-center red stripe. It had a picture of Sarah that looked to be several years old, and no name – just a code number. "It's a National Command Authority ID card," she said. "Issued by the White House. I received it when I became a deep-cover operative, and it was never revoked."
"That's a handy little tool," Chuck replied. "You have one of those, Casey?"
"No," the NSA agent said, more than a little jealousy flavoring his voice.
Chuck drove through Miramar until he reached the AAFES base exchange. Parking in front of the pseudo-mall, he and the two others exited the Herder and headed in. A GSA employee sat at a podium right inside the door.
"IDs, please," she said, a bored look on her face.
Casey flashed his Air Force ID, Sarah her NCA ID. "He's with us," she said.
"Sign in, please," the woman said. "And I need to see ID."
Chuck pulled out his fake Charles Carmichael ID and handed it to her, signing in with that name. "Thank you," she said, in the same monotone she'd been speaking with the entire time.
"What an incredibly boring woman," Casey muttered, once they were out of her earshot. The three headed into the strangely deserted food court area. A man in a flight suit lounged in front of the Starbucks.
He jumped up when he saw them approaching. "You Walker?" he asked, walking toward Sarah.
"That's me," she replied.
He laughed. "I figured. Mitch Tucker told me to look out for a bombshell blonde. Captain Will Williamson."
"That's a hell of a name," Sarah replied. "And 'bombshell blonde'? I may have to have a little chat with Gunny Tucker."
"Yeah, what can I say," Williamson said with a laugh. "My parents had a sick sense of humor, and Tucker's a bit of a loony."
Chuck looked confused. "Tucker… that's the guy who helped us blow the drug warehouse to kingdom come, right?"
"That's the one," Sarah confirmed.
"So," she said, turning back to Williamson, "are we all set?"
"We are indeed," he replied. "You've got some very powerful friends, Ms. Walker."
"It's Mrs. Bartowski, actually, "she replied. "But you can call me Sarah."
"My apologies, ma'am," Williamson said. "And which one of these two is the lucky Mr. Bartowski?"
"That would be me," Chuck said, jokingly adding, "and if you touch my wife, I'll watch while she kills you."
Williamson laughed. "No worries there, Mr. Bartowski. I'm… well… would you understand if I told you I'm a friend of Jack Harkness?"
Chuck's eyebrows raised. "Really."
"What can I say," Williamson replied. "I love being a Marine and flying's incredible… I'm willing to deal with 'don't ask, don't tell'."
Casey, who had been sporting a look of confusion on his face throughout the exchange, suddenly stiffened. "Oh, get over it, Casey," Chuck said, rolling his eyes.
"I have to apologize for the Neanderthal here," Chuck said, turning back to Williamson. "He's a pretty hardcore Republican and a big fan of the Second Amendment."
Williamson shrugged. "So am I. Doesn't change a thing."
He turned back to Sarah. "Well, Mrs. Bartowski – Sarah – I'm ready to go whenever you are. We've got an F-18F Super Hornet two-seater, ferry configuration. It can go 2,500 miles at a hop, cruising at Mach 1.8. All the weapons have been removed, except for the nosegun, which has no ammo in it."
He picked up a duffel bag from next to the chair he'd been in. "We've got a flight suit in here for you, along with all the equipment you need. As soon as you get changed, we can go ahead and start our globe-trotting adventure tour."
Sarah laughed at the dry humor in his voice. "Sounds good, Captain Williamson. Let me just say good-bye to my husband, and we'll be on our way."
She turned back to Chuck. "Well… this is where we part, for now."
The humor in her voice suddenly gave way to sadness. "If all goes well… I'll see you in Washington on Sunday?"
Chuck smiled and nodded. "Washington on Sunday," he replied.
His smile grew a little bigger. "Everything we've done over the last four and a half years, and here we are, working to save the President."
Williamson overheard him. "Excuse me? Do what now?"
"I'll explain in flight," Sarah replied. "It's a VERY long story."
She walked the few feet that separated her from Chuck, and hugged him. She loved embracing him – he was just tall enough that she could tuck her head under his chin, something she had always loved about him. "We're gonna do it," Sarah said softly. "And then you, and me, and the kids – we can go back home and hopefully be a normal family for a while."
Chuck snorted. "That would be new and different."
Sarah smiled, pulled back, and kissed him. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said, a note of humor in her voice.
Casey snorted. "There's a remark that's open to interpretation."
Chuck grinned. "Well, let's go blow some shit up, then, Casey!"
Sarah laughed – and reached out and smacked her husband on the ass. He yelped and jumped in surprise.
"I'll see you on Sunday," she said, turning to follow Captain Williamson.
Chuck and Casey watched them walk away, and then Casey turned to Chuck. "You ready to go blow some shit up?"
"No time like the present."
The two men walked back outside to the Herder. As Chuck was pulling out of the Marine Corps Air Station onto Miramar Road, he heard Casey muttering something under his breath that sounded distinctly like, "this man's military."
"Why do you have a problem with Captain Williamson, exactly?"
"Never been entirely comfortable with gay men," Casey admitted. "Call it homophobia, call it what you will."
"Fair enough," Chuck allowed. "But I gotta say, I'm a whole hell of a lot happier with my wife flying around the world with a gay guy than a straight one."
"Hmph," Casey grunted.
Fifteen minutes later, the Herder pulled into the parking lot of University Lutheran Church in La Jolla – right across the street from Casey's safe house. Just as he had predicted, the NSA was there in full force. Two Suburbans and a black Ford van sat on the street outside. All three cars were empty except for their drivers.
"Well," Casey said, an evil grin on his face. "That's at LEAST a dozen Fulcrum agents inside. This is super."
He pulled out his cell phone, dialing a number. "Boy are they gonna be surprised when they find out you can program multiple Incinerators to one number."
He held the phone to his ear. One ring… two rings… three rings…
And then an enormous fireball erupted across the street, as Casey's safe house was blown to kingdom come.
As Chuck and Casey watched in shock and awe, the fireball receded. The walls collapsed outwards, and the roof fell in.
The drivers of the three government vehicles had jumped out of their cars, and were now running toward the wreckage of the house. "Time for us to go," Casey said.
Chuck started the Herder and pulled out of the church parking lot, taking a right on La Jolla Shores and then a left on Torrey Pines Drive. "Where to, señor?" he asked.
"Hop on the 5," Casey replied. "We're goin' back to L.A."