A/N: Thanks to the wonderful NMH for editing this chapter in record time! Thanks also to DanaPAH for all her help over the past couple of years. I couldn't have done it without her.

Final thanks are to Crumby, for being a pest.

Chapter 16

The Next Step Forward

19th October, 2007

Baskersville, California

10:23 PST

"He did what?"

"Jumped onto the vehicle, sir," the local deputy repeated, looking more than a little awkward. "Well, he leapt onto the open window as the car sped away, to be exact."

Casey raised his second eyebrow at the man. "And then what happened?"

"The woman who was driving – the blonde – managed to push him off. I think the passenger might have helped, too."

Casey nodded. "Is there anything else you can remember?" he asked.

The deputy hesitated. "He was angry, sir."

"Angry?"

"Agent Shaw," he said, fiddling with the rim of his hat. "He was angry – not just angry, though. He looked really, really pissed, like he wasn't thinking straight."

Casey dug his hands into his pockets, managing to keep his composure and resisting the urge to frown. Shaw had already disregarded procedure on how to apprehend supposedly rogue agents once today by setting a trap in a public place, loaded full of civilians, and now he had done it again, by chasing after Walker and Bartowski on his own.

"Thanks for your time, Deputy," Casey said, nodding to the younger man, dismissing him.

The deputy tipped his hat before returning back to the small crowd of local officers, whom were all scowling disapprovingly. Casey didn't blame them, really. Shaw and his team – minus two injured agents – had already left in pursuit of Walker and Bartowski, leaving them without any explanation as to why half their town was now taped off as an FBI crime scene.

"CIA," he murmured under his breath. This was getting ridiculous. The operation had been flawed from the start – not to mention that Shaw had insisted he remain on the sidelines during the failed apprehension.

Casey hated the sidelines.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialled Beckman.

"Good afternoon, Major," she answered curtly.

"General."

"I've just been briefed on the situation in California by CIA liaisons," she sighed, taking a pause. "But I'd like your assessment."

Casey unclenched his jaw. He hadn't wanted to be the one to inform Beckman that Walker and Bartowski had escaped, while he'd been on the sidelines, no less.

"Shaw screwed up," he said bluntly. "The mission was careless, reckless even, and it could have been easily compromised. We're lucky that it wasn't."

"Are you sure your personal feelings towards Agent Shaw aren't clouding your judgement?" Beckman asked.

Surprisingly, Casey found himself nearly smiling. "I trust you think I'd use more discretion than that."

"I don't trust anyone, Major."

"Shaw screwed up, General," he said again, more seriously.

Beckman clicked her teeth in disapproval. "My thoughts exactly," she said before pausing. "I understand two agents were injured?"

"Not seriously," Casey said, glancing at the spot where an ambulance had been less than an hour previously. "They each took a round to the shin. Walker shot them while trying to escape."

"And does Shaw have any leads on her or Bartowski?"

"I overheard a radio transmission about twenty minutes ago," Casey said. "He doesn't appear to have anything new on them. Many of the roads around here are old mining roads and aren't on modern maps. They could be anywhere by now."

"Actually, that may not be entirely correct."

"Oh?" Casey asked, curious.

"My confidence in Shaw and the CIA in this matter is severely lacking, Major," Beckman said, sounding stern. "That's why I've yet to inform them about the NSA satellite that happened to be passing over the region at the time of Walker and Bartowski's escape."

Casey chuckled. "The CIA aren't going to happy about that."

"The CIA had their shot. It's time the NSA took a more assertive role into this affair."

"I agree, General."

"Unfortunately, the satellite only got a few minutes of relevant coverage and we weren't able to redirect it in time," Beckman continued. "The most it got was that they were heading north on Highway 49."

"North?" Casey repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Shaw's directed most of his resources to the south."

"Then good hunting, Major," Beckman said, ending the call.

Casey dropped the phone back in his pocket, nodded once more at the group of local cops, and began the walk back to his rental on the other side of town.

It was showtime.

# # #

19th October, 2007

Off Highway 49, California

16:32 PST

Their foreheads were still pressed together, noses gently grazing, when he spoke.

"Sarah?"

She didn't respond, keeping her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of his breath tickling her cheek. The reality of the last few moments hadn't quite sunk in – that he'd kissed her, after what had transpired in the motel. Only hours ago, she'd been questioning her feelings, her motivations…this. Now she knew. She wanted this.

"Do you think, um," Chuck started to say, stuttering in the cold, "it would be okay… if we got back in the truck now?"

Sarah opened her eyes. Chuck's bottom lip was quivering, and she realised that she, too, was freezing. Even with Chuck's arm wrapped around her.

Freeing her arms, she reached up to cup his face, pressing a chaste kiss against his lips. A slight thrill ran through her as she did.

"Let's go," she said softly, still breathing heavily from the kiss.

The walk back to the truck was longer than she remembered – or maybe that was just the physical world being too slow for her brain, which was racing along at a million thoughts per second. Chuck's warm palm felt damp in hers as he led them through the rain.

When they finally settled back in the truck, both still soaking wet, Chuck looked over at her, biting his lower lip.

"I'm not leaving," she said quietly.

"I know."

"We're in this together."

Chuck nodded once, looking out the widescreen at the rain, which was still pouring down, before turning back to her. "There's a second data storage facility, like the one in L.A., and I'm pretty sure this one contains the Ring's Wet List."

Sarah raised an eyebrow at the term. "Wet List?"

"It's what Bryce and Graham were after to begin with," Chuck said, licking his lips, which Sarah found enticing. "A complete list of all the agents the Ring has inside the CIA and other agencies."

"A complete list?" she repeated. "Isn't that a little risky – keeping a complete list all in one place?"

"It's an insurance policy of sorts, should any of the agents try and turn on the Ring," he said with a shrug. "They only have two of these facilities in the U.S., and the Wet List wasn't in L.A."

Sarah bit her tongue. "You were at the facility in L.A. then!" she said, giving him a gentle shove. "I knew it."

"Yeah," Chuck said with a small smile. "I was able to download over eighty percent of the data there without tripping the alarms."

"What sort of data did you get?" she asked, curious, brushing her hand over his.

"Ring intelligence: mission briefs, dead drop locations, procedural stuff mostly. Information that could be used to shut down a large part of their operations." Chuck's smile slowly fell. "Though without being used in conjunction with the information from the Oregon facility, it's largely useless. The government getting hold of the Wet List would finish them."

A feral grin started to spread across her face. If the two of them could take down the Ring, Bryce's death wouldn't have been in vain – not to mention the countless lives that would be saved in the process. Only something didn't entirely add up. "Chuck, where is the data now? What you downloaded."

Again, he looked nervous – which only made her want to lean over and kiss him – before he pointed upwards to his temple.

Sarah's jaw dropped. "It's…in you?"

"The amount of data…" Chuck said, swallowing. "It was in tens of petabytes, way too much to send or download onto a device. The human brain can store an incredible amount of information. At least that's what they told me."

"I thought you said there was only one Intersect device?" she asked. "The one in D.C., that it was destroyed after you made the upload."

"Not exactly," Chuck said, reaching for the inside pocket of his jacket. He'd taken the worn jacket back after she'd acquired a new one – it fit him better than it did her. He showed her a pair of tinted sunglasses with a long wire hanging from one side. "Bryce gave these to me. They can be used to upload data from a computer port directly into the Intersect."

"You're going to upload the Wet List?"

He nodded. "It's the only way."

"Does…it hurt?" she asked quietly, looking at the glasses. "When you upload, does it hurt?"

"Headaches," he murmured. "Sometimes they can be bad."

Sarah reached up, brushing a strand of damp hair from his forehead. "We can find another way."

He caught her hand, gently squeezing it. "It's the only way," he repeated.

She bit her cheek, uncomfortable at the prospect of Chuck causing himself pain. But it was his choice. She would have probably done the same had the situations been reversed.

"Okay," she said eventually. "But we'll need to plan this. Security's going to be extra tight now that their L.A. facility has been compromised."

"You're right," Chuck agreed, putting the glasses away. "I managed to flash on the specs back in L.A. and it's a relatively small facility, only lightly guarded…but that's probably changed now. The Director won't be taking any chances with both of us on the loose."

"With the entire CIA on our back, though, I doubt he'll be expecting us to go after it." Sarah grinned at him. "I'm sure we can come up with something."

Chuck laughed, the tension easing from his face. "I'd better put my thinking cap on then," he said, starting the engine to the truck.

"I didn't realise you ever took it off," she asked him innocently.

"Sometimes," Chuck said, glancing at her quickly as he pulled the truck onto the road. "When I'm distracted it can be hard to think at all."

Within a few minutes, they'd both fallen in silence, with Chuck concentrating on driving along the desolate road. Sarah let her head rest against the seat as her mind started to ponder the mission ahead.

Whatever plan they came up with, it wasn't going to be easy.

# # #

19th October, 2007

Near California/Oregon Border

23:03 PST

It was several hours later, the sun had long since set and the rain had become unbearable when Sarah had finally managed to convince him to stop. They were still a hundred and fifty miles from the Oregon border and Chuck had reluctantly pulled the truck off the road, taking it a hundred feet from the roadside, well under the cover of the forest's foliage.

Sarah had already switched with him once for the middle part of the journey. She had refused to do so again, though. There was no way either of them could drive in this rain. The wind had made the rain almost horizontal and in the darkness of the forest, driving conditions were just too treacherous to continue.

Chuck did have to concede, he was tired.

They could both use a few hours rest, even if it was just in the seats of the truck.

Chuck unbuckled his seat belt and stretched out against the seat. Sarah did the same next to him, drawing up her legs and leaning against him.

"Cold," she said quietly.

"A little," he said, lifting up his arm and letting her press up into him, her pleasant warmth sending him closer and closer to sleep.

Trying not to shift too much, he leant down gently kissing the top of her head, taking a moment to inhale her smell. "Good night, Sarah," he whispered, but she was already asleep.

He forced himself to stay awake for a few minutes longer, to just enjoy holding her.

Tomorrow there was the mission to think about and all the hazards and dangers that came with it.

Tonight there was just this.

# # #

Chuck wasn't sure what woke him.

Sarah was still asleep at his side, unmoving. The forest outside was quiet, still immersed in the awkward hours of pre-dawn, sun not yet shining. The rain, however, had at least stopped, and droplets were making a regular pit-pat sound as they fell from the trees. He listened to it for a few minutes more, Sarah's heat still a weight against his side.

His eyes were just starting to droop again when he heard a branch break…then another.

Chuck quickly sat up in his seat, causing Sarah to stir.

"What?" he heard her say sleepily as he frantically started to look around.

Then, everything exploded into action.

Figures were suddenly dashing out from behind trees – cops with weapons drawn – enclosing the truck from every angle, all screaming at them to put their hands in the air.

One voice, though, stood out against the others, and Chuck struggled to identify its owner.

"Sorry to interrupt your naps," a big man said from directly outside the window, his gun levelled straight at Chuck, "but you're both now in the custody of the NSA."

# # #

A/N: I'm not promising anything, but the next chapter should be relatively soon. I'm hoping to have the whole story done by Christmas.