Don't own Chuck

Chuck was flying the DC-7 with Nee-san sitting next to him and Jill sitting in the back of the cockpit observing them. He had no idea where he was headed just that he was to maintain their current course and speed. The bullet holes in the fuselage let air blow through from outside which dropped the inside temperature dramatically yet looking at Nee-san she seemed immune to the cold.

"Jill how are you doing back there," yelled Chuck. "You aren't too cold. Kenji be a gentleman and get the lady a blanket."

"She won't need it," said Nee-san. We're almost there."

"I'm sorry can you repeat," said Chuck. The added ventilation was making it difficult to hear over the loud noise of the engines that was now more audible inside. But the comforting thing was as long as they heard the roar of the engines they knew they were okay. "I thought you said we were almost there?"

"That's right," said Nee-san. "That's what I said. Don't worry I know what I'm doing. Do you always second guess that other me?"

"Almost where? We're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean we just passed Wake Island and we should be entering Japanese airspace soon but for right now there's nothing around except the deepest part of the ocean." Chuck was having a hard time looking at this person who looked and sounded like Sarah. It was tearing him up inside but he couldn't afford to show it.

"Yet we're almost there so what does that tell you," said Nee-san. "Put the plane on autopilot then follow me back."

"It tells me I'm not going to like this," said Chuck as he did what he was told then got up and followed her in the back going behind the curtain.

Already he could feel the air flow and knew what was happening just past the curtain. Her men were parachuting out one by one. She handed Chuck a harness and gave one to Jill too.

"Jill, have you ever jumped before?" asked Chuck. He thought maybe in her Fulcrum training they might have trained her but she was a scientist. She shook her head no. "Nee-san, why don't you give me a chute and let me take Jill down in tandem? You want her safe don't you?"

"Yes that's why Kenji is going to take her down and you're coming with me. I want to keep my eye on you mister." Chuck turned around he couldn't speak. What she said and the way she said it sounded exactly the same. She was checking Chuck's harness as Kenji and Jill jumped.

"What's going to happen to this plane once we jump?" Chuck just had a terrible thought if this was planned then what better way to mask their escape then a fiery finish.

"Don't worry all that has been thought out. The Jōhōhonbu owe me a few favors and I've cashed them in. Are you ready to jump with me?"

"Do I have a choice?" said Chuck as they jumped out of the plane. "I hope you've got a boat waiting for us or this is going to be a very long swim. Do you know what happened to the crew of the Indianapolis?"

"Does this other me put up with you rambling on?" asked Nee-san as they drifted down. "I'm finding it difficult not to punch you."

"Shut up," said Chuck as he grabbed the guidelines and pulled them off target away from where her men were landing. Chuck heard the sound of small arms fire and knew they weren't celebrating their arrival. "Keep quite if you want to live and let me take control."

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Sarah blew home with Ellie she parked on the street outside Echo Park and ran inside the apartment. Walking by Kat and Sam she didn't even stop to say a word she just went to their bedroom and yanked out a suitcase throwing things in it. Then she took a duffle bag and started loading it up with weapons she had stashed in a lock box under their bed.

"Sarah, think about what you're doing," said Ellie as she walked in. "What can you do now? You're going to get yourself killed… And you have so many guns."

"Hold up," said Casey as he walked in. "Let me talk to her. Ellie be useful go make some coffee." Casey stood in the doorway blocking it so she couldn't leave.

"John out of my way I don't want to hurt you but I'm going," said Sarah with a look on her face John recognized but didn't particularly like.

"Stand down and listen for a minute. You don't know where you're going or what you're going to do."

"I'm going to start with killing the pilot of that F-15 then I'm going to work my way up the food chain until I know why they gave the order to shoot Chuck's plane down."

"Now you're acting like a spy I used to know, before Chuck. Langston Graham's wild card enforcer. I didn't like that Sarah. You know why? Because she was unpredictable. Now, you're going to stand down and take a step back. I insist."

"You insist? How are you going do that?" said Sarah as she dropped her bags and moved forward towards Casey.

"Hey, hey, listen to me," said Morgan as he squeezed in between the two of them carrying a tablet. "You both are pretty scary right now but no you've got to watch this." Morgan brought up the sat image of the downing.

"Morgan we've seen that," said Casey. "What are you doing throwing gasoline on the fire?"

"We need to go back and look as they go through that cloud bank. See that those black dots. At first we didn't think anything but if we zoom in they become…"

"Parachutes… but Morgan that means…" Sarah started to say but Morgan cut her off.

"Yes, Chuck's alive," said Morgan as Sarah kissed him in excitement. Morgan turned red. "Well we won't tell Chuck about this… Or Alex for that matter either."

"Grimes get on with show and tell or it won't be Alex or Chuck you'll have to worry about," said Casey as he cracked his knuckles.

"Doesn't that hurt?" said Morgan as Casey gave him a look. "Okay well anyway we have another problem you see I tried to see through the cloud cover and there seems to be a boat below waiting for them but then this happens."

"Where'd that come from?" said Casey as they watch a submarine surface next to the boat. A cloud passed then when it cleared the boat was gone and just the sub was there. Sarah flashed.

"That's a Project 633 class North Korean submarine an old Romeo class soviet submarine. It's obsolete by today's standards so with the technology we have there should be no problem following it. Thank you guys now I know where to start and I have hope.

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At first Nee-san fought Chuck for control then she realized what was happening below so she readied her weapon and she let Chuck steer. His plan was simple, once they had a clear picture of what was going on. The submarine had surfaced off the portside of her yacht and a team of commandos had taken control. Then as her men were parachuting down they were either captured or killed. Chuck maneuverer them around to the starboard side on the sub and used an up draft to stay aloft longer than the rest so the commandos were mopping up when they came in quietly when no one was looking up anymore. They immediately swam to the sub and boarded.

"What do we do now," asked Nee-san.

"You're asking me? You're the one that organized this fiasco. I take it your friends in the Japanese secret service don't care too much for you either."

"No this is something else I kind of made a yakuza boss mad at me by beheading his relative. The man was being encroaching on my territory and his men attacked a family that had given my sisters and me shelter."

"When you say attacked you mean…"

"Yes killed. It's the only thing these people know how to do so it seems they have Jill and my men. So what do we do if you want to save your friend?"

"I guess we need to start my taking the sub. I've got an idea follow me," said Chuck as he made his way down below. He took a moment then flashed. He saw the submarine being commissioned in the ex-Soviet Union with party leaders cheering then sent to Vladivostok only to be shipped off again. This time to North Korea and then rust began to accumulate until it was resold to buyers unknown.

"Are sure your watch thing is working because you seem to go out every now and then," said Nee-san looking as if she was truly concerned.

"No I'm fine. This is the situation this is a Romeo class diesel-electric sub built around 1958 in Gorky in the Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard. The crew compliment is fifty-four plus I counted ten commandos against the two of us and your Sig. Not bad odds."

"I assume that was an attempt at levity."

"I find it helps in desperate situations like this but the first thing we need is a disguise because there isn't a lot of room to hide. How good is your Korean?"

"I can get by why? Do you have a plan?"

"If you knew me like my Sarah does, you'd know I always have a plan."

Chuck led her below deck towards the engine room where crew berthing was and they grabbed a couple pairs of coveralls and ball caps. They changed out of their wet things into the dry clothes they had taken. This was the first time he noticed Nee-san seeming cold and shivering as she changed. It was almost a kneejerk reaction as he moved to hold her close to warm her with his own body heat but he let go almost immediately.

"Let's get moving," said Chuck ignoring what he just did. She looked at him strange but neither said anything. "Come on we don't have much time. The Romeo has an exceptionally high reserve buoyancy, and is divided into eight watertight compartments: the forward torpedo room, living accommodations for officers and chiefs and the forward batteries, the missile control room and batteries, the control room, crew berthing and batteries, the forward engine room containing the diesels and generators, the aft engine room with the electric motors and the aft torpedo room."

"You seem to know a lot about everything Chuck," said Nee-san as they made their way through the passageways on the sub avoiding contact with the crew.

"We need to get to the control room that's where we can take over the boat from." Suddenly there was a siren and an announcement in Korean. "We're getting ready to dive. That's good."

"I'll take your word for it but I'm having a hard time seeing it. Being on a sardine can under the Ocean isn't my cup of tea. I much prefer to be topside where I can feel the sun and air."

"Come on this way," said Chuck. He resisted saying that his Sarah felt the same way. He hated every time she said something that made him think of Sarah because in that instance it was like she was with him when she wasn't. He knew it and it made him ache inside.

"Chuck before we go in…"

"Save it for afterwards," said Chuck as they stopped outside the hatch. "Okay, we're here take a deep breath and have your Sig ready. Inside will be at least seven people we need to be fast in there. You go left I go right wait for my signal, piece of cake."

"Is this another one of those attempts at levity like before?"

"You're catching on."

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Kat brought Sam back to be with her mother. Sarah didn't know how to react, she loved Sam and she was the most precious thing in her life but Chuck was too. Grammatically she knew the superlative could only apply to one, but she had two and she had to get the other one back. As she held Sam in her arms she knew she'd have to let her go if she wanted to bring Chuck back.

"Yuck boo-boo," said Sam as if she knew Chuck was in trouble then Sam did an extraordinary thing she gave Sarah a gentle caress, not her usual one and kissed her.

"Yes Chuck boo-boo but mommy is going to being Chuck home I promise." She handed Sam back to Kat. "Ellie will take Sam back with her. I can't impose."

"Don't be silly. Alex and I will take care of Sam here. It's better for her to stay in her own house with her own things and sleep in her own bed. You just go and bring your husband back."

"I'm coming too," said Morgan. "Chuck's my best friend and besides you might need the magnet. The Cobra is always ready for a mission."

"Morgan I appreciate the offer and I know Chuck would too but this mission is dangerous and I don't know what I'll be getting into. If you want to help you can work out of Castle as my support and logistics. You can start right now by calling the airport and getting the Lear prep'd and ready for takeoff."

"Are you sure because I got a bug out bag all ready to go," said Morgan as Sarah picked up hers and headed for the door.

"Yes I'm sure Alex and you can feed me satellite images. Start by using simple IR scans of the ocean but you might want to have the people at DARPA standing by to use Lidar if we need it. However, a diesel boat should be easy to track. Thanks, you guys are the greatest." said Sarah as she left.

Before Chuck she'd always been alone. Now she had an army of friends willing to help her. The agency and her father taught her to rely only on herself that to rely on others was a weakness, but Chuck had taught her the opposite was true. Your friends and family were your best assets and when you're in a bind they always come through no matter what.

"And where do you think you're going by yourself," said Casey as he came out carrying a duffle bag. "You didn't think I was going to let you go on this mission alone."

"John to call this a mission would mean it's sanctioned. We both know it's not and I can't take you down with me. I'll do whatever it takes to bring Chuck home."

"You can bet this is not sanctioned. Beckman tried to get you permission to enter Japan but her request was shot down just like the Lear if you get my drift. But I've got a plan if you let me come along that will get us both in country without getting anyone killed first."

"Then what are we waiting for partner," said Sarah as she headed for her car.

"Partner I like that. No let's take mine, it's got more room and I'll explain the plan on our way to North Island."

"I like it too," said Sarah as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and Casey turned beet red.

"Well enough with the female emotions. We need to hurry because Beckman doesn't know about this and when she finds out she'll have a cow."

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Chuck made his way inside quietly keeping his head down and his hat down over his face. He had his eye on a control panel behind the plot table. Off to one side was the Captain's cabin, Chuck could hear a man screaming Japanese at someone inside and the sound of someone being beaten. Nee-san made her way along the bulkhead moving in the opposite direction. From where she was she had better vision of the room and inside the CO's cabin. Chuck was almost at the control panel when a man came up to him and started yelling at him in Korean.

"What are you doing in here? Engineers belong in the engine room if you don't have any reason to be here go back to your post and take off your hat. You know you're not supposed to wear them below decks."

"Well if you were still in the Korean People's Army Naval Force Sojwa you might be in a position to comment on my uniform," said Chuck in Korean as he edged close enough to the panel. "But considering I've never been, and you're no longer then that's that."

Chuck raised his head to see the man's eyes open wide just as he was able to throw the main breaker. Warning sirens went off as the boats eight compartments immediately sealed. Locking the commandos in one compartment as well as sealing out the ships company in their own areas.

"Waegukin, Foreigner" screamed the officer as Chuck laid him out with one punch. Nee-san took out the two commandos standing over Kenji who was being beaten. Another officer went for Nee-san but Chuck grabbed a compass off the chart table and threw it catching the man in the leg taking him down so Nee-san could pistol whip him.

"Okay Captain Park, enough horsing around, I want you to go over the ship's 1MC and tell everyone to relax that there was a small problem with a fuse or whatever and the ship put itself in battle stations but there's nothing to worry about."

"How do you know my name? Who are you people?"

"Captain Kim Park, Korean People's Army Naval Force. You grew up outside of Ch'aho-nodongjagu. You still have your mother and father there. I can also tell you where they live and when they're at home. Make the announcement and as you can tell I understand Korean. That goes for the rest of you in here I know you all and, more importantly, I know how to touch each and every one of you so cooperate and this will all go away soon. Captain your crew is waiting to hear from you," said Chuck as he handed him the mic.

While Chuck was dealing with the bridge crew Nee-san went and liberated Kenji. He was banged up but nothing worse for the wear but Jill wasn't there.

"You there Song come here," said Chuck. Everyone looked at each other truly Chuck did know everyone. "Kenji change into one of the commandos clothes. Song you're going to take him to get Jill the American woman you brought on board. I'll open the hatches them lock them as you pass through. If I think you're trying something I'll flood the compartment."

"But you'll kill your man too."

"He's supposed to be our prisoner," said Kenji as he looked at Nee-san but she whispered something in his ear. "Captain, I know you handpicked this crew and they're your friends so you don't want to see anything happen to them. I know this submarine like the back of my hand I know which switch to pull to say if I wanted to start the diesels and flood a compartment with carbon monoxide or just flood it with water."

"You're crazy," said the Captain as he looked at Chuck in horror.

"I've been called worse but I advise you not to test me or my patience. Now is there anything your man needs to know like a pass word or code phrase before he leaves so you don't get anyone killed by accident."

"'Kimjongilia the flower of wisdom, love, justice and peace', that's the code phrase. Now you uphold your end of the deal no one gets hurt."

"February 16 right whatever. You have my word no one will get harmed," said Chuck as Kenji and Song went to get Jill. "Nee-san what did you whisper to Kenji to get him to fall in line? That as soon as you could you'd free your men and take control. You might be able to do that but you'll never be able to pilot this sub and everyone is afraid of me not so much you."

"Do you have a solution then for our little impasse? You know I can't let Jill go, at least not yet but I also know you won't leave her because you promised her you'd keep her safe. But what would you say if I told you that you were free to go once we hit land?"

"I always keep my word that's one of the things my Sarah loves about me. When Kenji gets back maybe we all need to sit down and see what everyone wants. Maybe there's a way we can accommodate everyone's needs but for now the helmsman needs a course."

"Lay in a course to Shimoda Port, Japan," said Nee-san. "Yes maybe that would be the best thing for everyone. I can see why that other me is attracted to you."

"You heard the woman full speed Shimoda Port. Captain what was the plan after you took your prisoners on board? Where were you supposed to take them to?"

"We were to rendezvous with a cargo ship headed for Yokoyama outside of Tokyo Wan. The mercenaries were supposed to transfer over with the prisoners then we were to go home. After that I don't know."

"Who organized this? What was his name?" asked Nee-san but she knew already she just wanted a confirmation.

"I don't know for sure but I overheard one of the mercenaries mention Larry Tokugawa, a head of one of yakuza families."

"He likes to call himself the 'Shogun'."