A/N:

You´re not mistaken. Chapter 4 is up! I´ve something in my mind. To be honest, I didn´t have lot of time to edit stuff. I´ve prepared bunch of content for you guys, but me and my current beta, we´re both little busy with a thing called life. So, in order to make things faster on both ends (us, and readers), I´ m asking for the second beta. For someone who makes things little more flowing and will pay attention even small detail. You can PM or email me, I can assure you, I will reply.

But enough of my whining!

Enjoy :-)

Bang!

Just another day on the same ole' deserted island. What should have been an amazing day, became just like any other; just another stint on his resume.

The beauty of the fauna and flora was definitely breathtaking. It's a nice place for retirement, but not for high risk operations. A place like this was meant for people to take their time in admiring such a stunning environment. The bad thing about that though, was when individuals did slow down, a place like this could under your skin; it gets you thinking. And "thinking" in this kind of job usually gets you killed.

Bang!

Casey was the type of soldier who never questioned orders. Perhaps that was the reason why he was able to get himself such a high rank in the military. His accomplishments in the field took a certain level of commitment that very few in the NSA had. His willingness to accomplish the mission was why he was picked. To everyone, Casey seemed like the prototypical soldier on the outside. But behind that façade was a loving husband and proud father. He was just able to isolate his personas and switch between them; caring man by day and hard ass soldier by night.

Bang!

He sat atop a hill some yards away from his house; going about his daily routine of shooting up bottles. His cover was that of an ex-military doctor who came to the island to find some peace. Suffice it to say, Casey originally thought this cover was ridiculous. But the more time he spent on the island, more specifically his hilltop where it gave him the time to unfortunately reevaluate his decisions, the more he found himself prioritizing his life. Thinking about the past made him speculate about the things he wanted to do, but never got the chance to. The most important of those things being spending more time with his family, and more specifically, spending more time with his daughter.

Bang!

Just some more target practice. John Casey wasn´t a man of observation, he was a man of action. Observation and undercover work wasn´t an easy thing to do, that much the Major knew, but the thrill was supposed to be compelling, and now it felt like a substitute. At the very beginning, when John was trying to choose sides to solve this dilemma, he only found himself frustrated. What he couldn´t figure out was the fact that General Beckman did nothing when the stakes had changed. She just gave him the latest update and told him to deal with it. John Casey wasn´t a patient type of guy, and he certainly wasn´t handler material.

His mission was supposed to be simple: Find the place, get the information, and blow the place sky high. Intel on the operation was solid at the beginning; it was when Casey was about to begin the op, that everything turned on its head. His handler at the time; appraised him of the situation. Someone from Bartowski Communications was hiring people at a new workplace somewhere in Taiwan. It was announced from high circles of "BC" management. General Beckman took over the operation simply after that announcement, and made John cancel his current objectives. In the end, all he ended up doing was observing. It was logical to assume that the CEO would be involved in some way with his supposedly "new project." Things just played differently to everyone´ s surprise. The mission resulted in the CEO of the company becoming an asset, and the major was left wondering what in the hell exactly happened.

Bang!

The fate of Charles Bartowski was what bothered Casey the most, more than anything. "The Undercover Conquest," (...as the moron referred to it, citing his nerd games and some, "Lost" TV...) was in motion. Under normal circumstances, when the termination order came in for an asset, which happens more often than not in an op like this, Casey wouldn't have even blinked when carrying out the order. But things were anything but normal. He would never admit it out loud, but he considered Bartowski a friend. And putting Chuck into action was like playing with fire, while adding gasoline to the equation. Casey was not happy.

The group around the self-proclaimed Big Boss was mostly made up of mercenaries. They were under the suspicion for all kinds of crimes; like kidnapping, human trafficking, and a bunch of other stuff. It was the perfect cover up to hide their true intentions. So, if say a CEO gets captured in the middle of nowhere, a board would swallow any cover story in order to save the stocks of the company, instead of digging deeper to find out what was under the surface. It was clear that someone wanted Chuck, either for his tech skills, or to use him as leverage. If Casey had to guess he would go with both.

Bringing a civilian into the game, in Casey's mind, was a highly unnecessary risk, especially if that civilian couldn't keep a secret worth a damn, or so it seemed. After working with Chuck for quite some time, Casey realized that Chuck was far from what he seemed to be. This could only mean one thing; the person who sent Chuck here knew him well enough to know that was more to him than meets the eye. That's probably the reason why the higher ups made such an effort to keep Chuck here. It wasn't a coincidence, Charles Bartowski was sent here for a reason. Why and by who, John had no clue.

Bang!

Too much similarities…

The sound of the glass shattering made the NSA agent recall the images of the last couple of days. To bet on Sarah Walker, the Wild-Card Enforcer, especially after the things they did to keep her on the island, was such a risky move. Especially since her mission was a setup.

This woman went to hell and back. She lost her partner, both professionally and personally. Even though Walker was the CIAs best, after an unsuccessful high priority mission like this, there's only two choices; terminate her and be done with it, or early retirement. But she seemed to have friends in high places. If she returned home, there was a chance, no matter how slight, that she could become a target. No matter how absurd the situation may have seemed, it was actually safer for her to be here, where she might do some good considering the alternative. John wasn´t convinced about this decision however. This choice wasn´t made in the best interest of Sarah Walker the person. This choice was made for the best interest of the CIA. If John Casey understood anything other than guns, it was pain and grief. These were emotions that weren´t wise to mess with. This woman didn´t deserve to die, but she didn´t deserve to be put back in the field either. John secretly prayed for a miracle in hopes that things would not blow up in his face when the time came.

…

Chuck's mind raced while he sat impatiently in front of his laptop in his tent. Staring at the black screen, his mind kept bringing up two obstacles with no way around it. He cursed under his breath. Everything felt so surreal in the beginning. This whole kidnapping and espionage thing felt surreal. Not until Chuck found himself on this island, working here as the "IT guy", did everything become absolute. Oh, and the fact that CIA agents were killed over the Omega chip helped solidify things as well. This chip was the key for a government project called Cipher; the project which Bartowski Communications were now part of. Thankfully, whoever was behind all of these heinous acts, were getting sloppy.

The thought of shutting the operation down for good and being done with it, was more than pleasing. But Chuck knew that the only reason he was still alive was because the project was still ongoing. He figured he was the government's insurance policy. Even with the project nearing its end, Chuck was smart enough to know that shit could hit the fan real quick. There was a chance of a slight hick up in every mission, no matter what the statistics indicated in these types of situations. Statistics never fully simulate reality. There weren´t any guarantees of success and Chuck knew that.

Imagining getting off this Island was his biggest dream for years. Everyday there were a multitude of crimes being committed, but he always pushed down his basic instincts, because he knew it was his responsibility to help complete this mission. It was time to search for evidence, not to care about the people he couldn´t save. That was his excuse to justify his actions anyways. Chuck really needed to get the hell out of here because this place was seriously taking its toll on his soul.

If I worked with Casey from the start, maybe it would have been much easier.

Am I really that pathetic? There is too much at stake to let my lady feelings get in the way!

Chuck mentally slapped himself, seeing the irony in his statement. He was literally saved by the bell when the screen came to life.

You have a green light!

That was all, the message on the screen stated. It was now time to get Sarah out of here.